Southwest Airlines was co-founded by Herb Kelleher in the year 1967 along with one of his client. Eliminating unnecessary services and utilizing secondary airports to provide lowest fares in the industry became their vision. In 1981, Kelleher became president and CEO of company. His dynamic leadership style is not only celebrated within the company but also in press. Fortune has also tagged him perhaps the best CEO in America. Kelleher was enlisted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2004 Leadership Core Values “Be yourself” and don’t lose on your individuality is the core concept that formed the basis for values in Herb Keller’s leadership style. The following core values were seen within Herb Kelleher’s leadership style. …show more content…
When the CEO of a company takes charge of strengthening the bonds within a company it is very likely that the company starts working like one coherent machine and becomes unstoppable. Lightning lamps of dedication and faith within employees makes them responsive not only towards the customers but their co-workers too .Once a strong foundation is laid the company is bound to face any blows with ease. Unlike other companies Herb Kelleher followed the policy of “employee first” which resulted in employees providing exceptional services to the customers. On many occasions Herb would be caught going through the airport, giving hugs to all the employees showing gestures of warmth. "It's very important to value people as individuals."-Kelleher He did not differentiate people on the basis of posts and titles help by them instead chose to honour each person’s individuality as a human …show more content…
Catering To Customer Needs “When someone comes to me with a cost saving idea, I don’t immediately jump up and say yes. I ask: what’s the effect on the customer?”-Herb Kelleher. No company can reach its apotheosis unless it pays its paramount interest in the customers. This was the very reason why Herb Kelleher encouraged his employees to go the extra mile for the customers. As a result of this core value, Southwest had the lowest complaints in the industry filed per 100,000 passengers carried.[2] 5. Hire the Right People “Succession planning has been a major priority at Southwest for quite some time. We think we have come up with a winning combination of talent for our company reorganization.”-Herb Kelleher. Personality tests were conducted to help the employees of Southwest know which positions were they ideal for. In his mindset, personality could not be changed, but leadership and management could be taught. Herb Kelleher’s leadership style is that of a Team Leader. Scoring high on both people and task efficiency scales. The best part of such a leadership style is that it has best of both the