Service Journalism Versus Hard News Reporting

Last year, a journalism class from Iowa State University visited the Meredith offices for one of the class periodic exposures to the real world of journalism

The Spirit of Retirement: Creating a Life of Meaning and Personal Growth

By James A. Autry Prima Publisher (Hardcover, $22.95, ISBN: 0761563539, 9/2002) For some people, the word “retirement” evokes images of farewell parties, vacations, golf games and, at long last, real progress on oft-postponed household projects. But according to Autry (Love and Profit), who once served as the president of a large corporation and is now a public speaker and consultant, the initial euphoria soon wears off, leaving the retiree with a hard realization: “For the first time in my life I don’t have a job.” In this compact, inspiring book, Autry insists that retirement is actually an opportunity for people to “stop doing and concentrate on being.” To that end, he shares stories about retirees who made successful transitions to retirement and juxtaposes these anecdotes with questions and exercises for readers. Retirement is a time for changing one’s approach to life, reinvigorating friendships, serving the community, finding nature and expressing one’s inner creativity, explains the author, and his book—alternately pragmatic and spiritual—should serve disillusioned retirees well. —Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. (from Publishers Weekly)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1403/thumbnail.jp

The Servant Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Great Morale, and Improve Bottom-Line Performance

By James A. Autry (Prima hardcover, $22.95, ISBN: 0761535357, 9/2001; Three Rivers Press paperback,$13.95, ISBN: 1400054737; 11/2004) Leadership is a calling. And servant leadership―the idea that managing with respect, honesty, love and spirituality will empower employees―helps you answer that calling. Written by top-selling author, former Fortune 500 executive, and business consultant James A. Autry, this remarkable journey helps you uncover a set of skills and ideals that will transform the way you do business. It helps you nurture the needs and goals of those who look to you for leadership. The result is a more productive, successful, and happier organization, and a more meaningful life for you.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1397/thumbnail.jp

Looking Around for God: The Oddly Reverent Observations of an Unconventional Christian

By James A. Autry Smyth & Helwys (Paperback, $16.00, ISBN: 1573124842, 1/2007) James Autry, author of Looking Around for God, thinks that the true message of the old spiritual is not just that God has an eye on the sparrow—it’s that God is demonstrating that if these details are worth God’s attention they are certainly worth ours. It may be that we will more readily find God in the details of this world—and of our own lives— than anywhere else. Looking Around for God, Autry’s tenth book, is in many ways his most personal, as he considers his unique life of faith and belief in a God often clouded by church convention. In assembling these personal essays, stories and poems, Autry strives to share how God has been revealed in many different circumstances of his life, while at the same time offering a few ideas for how the Christian church might better serve in making God’s love and presence manifest in the world.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1191/thumbnail.jp

Confessions of an Accidental Businessman: It Takes a Lifetime to Find Wisdom

Nonfiction by James A. Autry Berrett-Koehler ($24.95, ISBN: 1576750035, 9/1996) This business autobiography of a corporate executive relates the management and leadership lessons which Autry, a Fortune 500 executive, has learned on his way to the top. According to Autry, knowing what to do is only part of becoming a leader; the only part is knowing how to be.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1070/thumbnail.jp

The Book of Hard Choices: How to Make the Right Decisions at Work and Keep Your Self-Respect

By James A. Autry and Peter Roy Broadway Books (Hardcover, $23.95, ISBN: 0767922581, 12/2006) “There are a thousand acts of duplicity and dishonesty every day, some large and some small, some of which undoubtedly take place in your workplace. The question for all of us is, ‘Are we going to resist or just play along the path of least resistance?’ The first hard choice a person of integrity must make is to choose to live, both personally and professionally, in a way that embodies integrity. The power of this book comes from the real-life, in-the-workplace experiences that these executives have been so generously willing to share. None had easy choices, but that’s the point: Integrity is not about easy choices, it’s about the courage to make the right choices.” All of us like to think that, in any given situation, we’d act with integrity and do the right thing. But what happens when we get to work each morning? Do the same rules we follow in our personal lives apply to our work lives? The lines between right and wrong become blurred when we must weigh our obligations to our employer against our own ideas about what is right and wrong. Should altruism trump profit, even to the detriment of the organization? When should you step in to protect an employee and when should the employee be left to take the heat? If the CEO is up to some unethical accounting, should you always risk your job—and the company’s reputation—to sound the alarm? These are the hard choices, the dilemmas that put your integrity to the test and require you to look beyond organizational policy and industry precedents to find an answer that reflects your personal sense of justice. The Book of Hard Choices goes to the heart of these difficult decisions. James Autry and Peter Roy, experienced executives themselves, interviewed numerous leaders about the tough decisions they’ve made on the job. They spoke with people like former Starbucks president Howard Behar, Iowa Cubs owner Michael Gartner, and Governor Tom Vilsack of Iowa as well as entrepreneurs, military officials, members of the clergy, and a whole host of leaders. The authors dig into the thinking process these people went through, as well as the emotional strain, the self-doubt, and the fear of a wrong decision’s impact on their business, family, or coworkers. Not everyone in this book made the right choice, but all of them were forced to examine their values and make decisions in complicated circumstances. The result is hard-won wisdom on how to navigate the ethical gray-areas of work life—from daily challenges to possible career ending choices—and make the best possible decisions in the most difficult situations.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1333/thumbnail.jp

Real Power: Lessons for Business from the Tao Te Ching

Nonfiction by James A. Autry and Stephen Mitchell Riverhead Books (Paperback, $14.00, ISBN: 157322720X, 3/1999) The Tao Te Ching is the world\u27s oldest leadership manual, written, according to legend, by the sage Lao-tzu in the sixth century B.C.E. In this book, premier business consultant James A. Autry and bestselling author and translator Stephen Mitchell present a modern-day guide to business leadership drawing on the age-old lessons of the Tao Te Ching. With simple, evocative essays, commenting on a selection from the Tao Te Ching, they show how its elegant wisdom can transform the workplace from a source of stress into a source of creativity and joy―and make work, at any level of the corporate ladder, more fulfilling than ever before.https://egrove.olemiss.edu/mwp_books/1272/thumbnail.jp