The Surprising but Foundational Leadership Quality: Love

James Autry is probably a name you have not heard. But, if you are a Boomer, Gen X-er, or Gen Y, you have most likely heard of or read one of his company’s publications: Better Homes and Gardens. Autry joined Meredith Corporation, the company that published Better Homes and Gardens and other magazines, in 1960 as a copy editor. Ten years later, he became its president.

Under Autry’s leadership, the company expanded into additional publications and made several key acquisitions. By the time he retired in 1991, James Autry had grown the company into a $500 million publishing powerhouse, which, in today’s terms, would be a billion-dollar company. Autry became one of the most respected and successful leaders in the publishing industry. And he built this success in one of the most counterintuitive ways possible: through love.

At the top of my bookshelf is his book, Love and Profit. It is composed of short chapters that capture what he learned as a leader. One of my favorite statements from Autry is, “Good management is largely a matter of love. Or if you are uncomfortable with that word, call it caring.” He gave his teams the freedom to pursue their own ideas—after they had met their core responsibilities. When an idea was evaluated as a strong product, he invested in it.

In 1992, Time Magazine wrote this about Autry, “To develop new titles, Meredith encourages employees to pursue their pet ideas for future magazines after hours. Workers who have developed promising concepts have been permitted to write, edit, and manage their offspring. The strategy has led to new titles like Wood magazine, which has grown to a circulation of 600,000…”

Autry was also the first CEO in the United States to allow new mothers to work from home. This is one of my favorite management insights from James Autry. He called out this fallacy that many leaders tell when someone comes with a personal request: “No one gets special treatment” or “If I do this for you, I have to do it for everyone.” Autry defined special treatment as, “A manager’s willingness to bend the rules to accommodate every person’s specialness.” Autry’s belief was that it did not matter whether you were a man or a woman, healthy or sick, young or old; everyone mattered equally, but not with the same rules.

Autry recognized that people have different needs and life circumstances. He focused on treating people fairly and equitably, caring for them, and supporting them based on their situations.  His philosophy on equality was what he called “special treatment for all.”

Today, we are familiar with this concept, equity. Autry’s commitment to equity came much before it became a buzzword.

I did my PhD research on how love is practiced and perceived in the workplace. As I worked on my literature review, I found consistently that companies where leaders genuinely cared about their employees and their well-being performed better. Even when those companies had difficult years, they recovered. I will share three examples: Southwest under Herb Kelleher, Herschend Entertainment Group under Joel Manby, and Herman Miller under Max De Pree. There are many others. This is data, not a whimsical idea.

So, if you want your company to do well, consider your own motives—and the motives of your leadership team. Make decisions driven by love, a genuine care and concern for the well-being of your people and your customers, the best way you can.

In one of my future posts, I will share how you can do a quick scan to recognize your motives, along with tools supported by evidence-based research that can help you frame decisions rooted in care for your teams and customers. But for now, as you sift decisions rapidly through different organizational frames, let the final frame be love.

Dr. Shalini Jebasingh is a trauma-informed Critical Stress Management Coach and Values-Based Organizational Trainer, the Founder of Eirene Group and Bible at Work, and the developer of the SCRIBE Framework and the Love in Leadership Assessment.

 Explore: SCRIBE Framework | Love in Leadership Assessment | Bible at Work | To invite Dr. Shalini Jebasingh to speak at a conference or to your team at work, email hello@eirene-group.com.