Undercover Boss: Escaping GM’s Abusive Corporate Culture
BNET has an interview with Joel Manby, CEO of Herschand Family Entertainment, a privately held $300 million company with 10,000 employees and 24 theme parks around the country. Here are some of the Q&A:
Tobak: Tell me about the leadership culture at Herschend.
Manby: We have a common culture that we’re trying to create at all our properties. It’s a “servant leadership” culture; we have an objective of being a great place to work for great people. Servant leadership is actually a faith-based concept, but we adapted the behavior, not the faith. It has eight attributes that leaders are measured on. Half of their raise and bonus is based on how they go about their work, and half is based on hitting their numbers, so it creates a really strong culture. And as you know, every great company has a strong culture.
Tobak: So, what are the eight attributes?
Manby: Patience, kindness, honesty, humility, respectfulness, selflessness, forgiveness and commitment. You can dislike somebody, but you can still respect them, forgive them, and treat them with humility and honesty. We also have a phrase: “admonish in private, praise in public.” So you don’t embarrass people.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=84c07095-bd80-4877-926f-3d68b26b3b57)
“Undercover Boss” Amuses Theme Park CEO
Joel Manby, president and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment, the largest family-owned theme parks in the nation, learned that it takes a lot of hard work to keep the fun and excitement alive on CBS’ “Undercover Boss.
While undercover, he meets a kid-friendly captain who loves his job conducting the “Ride the Duck” tour and learns that it might be easier to run a boardroom than to keep the attention of a boat full of kids.
Manby also works the front gate at Silver Dollar City Theme Park, where he learns that first impressions and a warm welcome make all the difference.
He also meets a young man aspiring for his job. A roller-coaster enthusiast, Manby’s employee shares his passion along with some ideas he hopes to implement when he takes over the company.
“Albert does overwhelm me a little bit, but you can channel that,” Manby says.
His employee speaks highly of Manby as well, saying, “He is an awesome guy.”
Read the full story on CBS News
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=06ca4fd6-7023-4545-8ee0-d13e72d24ef8)
TV’s ‘Undercover Boss’ makes surprise visit to Camden’s Adventure Aquarium
Mercedes Franklin never noticed her new co-worker John Briggs bore a remarkable resemblance to the man whose picture graced the cover of every company newsletter.
“I felt kind of stupid that I didn’t put two and two together,” said Franklin, a cash control specialist at the Adventure Aquarium. “In the hallway, there’s a newsletter with his picture on it and I pass it, like, 100 times a day.”
It ends up John Briggs was really Joel Manby, president and chief executive officer of Herschend Family Entertainment, the aquarium’s parent company and Franklin’s boss.
Manby spent an entire day in July helping Franklin run the aquarium’s Creature Feature exhibit, a touch tank, and wiping fingerprints off the glass at some of the exhibits.
“They told us it was a documentary on a young man who was unemployed and wanted to go back into the work force,” said Franklin, who lives in the Parkside section of Camden.
Manby said he agreed to do the show because he wanted to know what it was like to work an entry level job at the company he runs.
“I was amazed by the dedication and hard work of the employees,” Manby said. “I have a caring heart. We had a lot of hardship growing up. I’ve always been concerned when I have to make difficult decisions.”
Manby spent two days at the aquarium and said interacting with his employees totally changed his outlook.
“At the end of the day, I was so run down,” he said. “Mercedes was such an amazing lady.”
Read the full story on Courier Post Online
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=13696eba-45d7-4551-810b-78f41d13e7a3)
