Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

A few years ago, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 40th year and was kind enough to share in its in-flight magazine 40 lessons it learned since 1971.  The lessons provide good tips for business leaders. If you missed the full list, here are some of the highlights of timeless lessons: Invent your own culture and put a top person in charge of it .  A crisis can contain the germ of a big idea . Simplicity has value .  For Southwest, simplicity means using 737s for most of its fleet, which makes maintenance more cost-effective and allows more efficient training for flight crews and ground crews. Remember your chief mission . Take your business, not yourself, seriously. Put the worker first .  For Southwest, that meant being the first U.S. airline to offer a profit-sharing plan, in 1974.  Employees now own 13 percent of the airline. The web ain't cool, it's a tool .  Southwest was the first U.S. airline to establish a home page.  By 2010, ...

If you've flown Southwest Airlines you know they're tops in airline customer service, driven by a leadership style that creates a company-wide culture where all employees own that culture . According to SWA Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly, as reported in the company's in-flight magazine, "every company has a culture, whether that culture is supportive or stifling, active or passive, fun or discouraging." "One way we do culture differently is by making Southwest's culture everyone's responsibility . In fact, we ask everyone to 'own it,'" says Kelly. Here are some of the ways that SWA keeps its winning culture in the forefront that you can also do to keep employees motivated and to drive great customer service: 1. Form a corporate culture committee and a local culture committee that organizes low-cost employee events throughout the year. 2. Include a section related to culture on each employee's annual performance...

Yesterday, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 41st anniversary. If you have been following my blog for the past year you know I’m a big fan of Southwest. I admire their company culture and applaud their customer service . Chairman, President and CEO, Gary Kelly, shares some insights into the airline' culture in the June issue of the airline’s in-flight magazine. Called unique and quirky, Kelly explains that there are three criteria that make up what it calls “Living the Southwest Way .” He says that employees are asked to display them each and every day : A Warrior Spirit A Servant’s Heart A Fun-LUVing Attitude The airline says that employees embrace Southwest as a “cause,” not a job. And, that “cause” is serving its customers. “We are a Customer Service company; we just happen to fly airplanes,” says Kelly. Happy Anniversary SWA . You set a great example.  Here are some of the other many lessons Southwest’s rich history has taught us about leadership and customer se...