Herb Kelleher co-founded Southwest Airlines with Rollin King and banker John Parker, incorporating it initially as 'Air Southwest Co.' in 1967; the first flights took off on Jun…
Herb Kelleher co-founded Southwest Airlines with Rollin King and banker John Parker, incorporating it initially as 'Air Southwest Co.' in 1967; the first flights took off on June 18, 1971, after four years of legal challenges. ◦
He served as CEO and president for 20 years starting in 1981. ◦
Kelleher earned a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from New York University School of Law as a Root-Tilden Scholar and clerked for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice before moving to Texas. ◦
He was known for getting little sleep and his affinity for Wild Turkey bourbon and cigarettes; his outrageous personality created a corporate culture where Southwest employees took themselves lightly but their jobs seriously. ◦
In March 1992, Kelleher resolved a trademark dispute with Stevens Aviation CEO Kurt Herwald through an arm-wrestling match called 'Malice in Dallas,' which he lost but still gained rights to use the slogan. ◦
His leadership was shaped by his mother's teaching that positions and titles signify absolutely nothing and that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title. ◦
At a 1997 testimony, Kelleher stated he was 'unable to perform competently any meaningful function at Southwest,' and credited his employees for letting him serve as CEO. ◦
Kelleher believed that 'the business of business is not business. The business of business is people—yesterday, today and forever.' ◦
He held that 'a company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.' ◦
He argued that 'power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.' ◦
Kelleher maintained that positions and titles signify absolutely nothing and that people should be respected and trusted as people. ◦
He viewed the core of Southwest's success as 'dedication, devotion, loyalty—the feeling that you are participating in a crusade,' noting that competitors 'can buy all the physical things' but cannot buy dedication, devotion, or loyalty. ◦
He said that tangible things competitors can go out and buy, but 'they can't buy your spirit,' adding that spirit is the most powerful thing of all and that 'it has to come from the heart, not the head.' ◦
He framed Southwest's risk as internal, saying the primary potential enemy was 'ourselves, not our competitors.' ◦
Kelleher described Southwest as being in 'the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.' ◦
He advocated thinking small and acting small to get bigger, and warned that 'we don't apply labels to things because they prevent you from thinking expansively.' ◦
Kelleher described a 'Ready, fire, aim' approach to decision-making pace, noting 'you don't have a lot of time to fool around with aiming.' ◦
He explained that 'when an issue comes up, we don't say we're going to study it for two and a half years. We just say, Southwest Airlines doesn't do that. Maybe somebody else does, but we don't.' ◦
In a 2004 interview, he explained that Southwest had 'never done the long-range planning that is customary in many businesses,' and that what they did by way of strategic planning was to 'define ourselves and then we redefine ourselves.' ◦
He said that 'we have a strategic plan. It's called doing things,' and added that 'just because you don't announce your plan doesn't mean you don't have one.' ◦
He believed that 'if you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it.' ◦
He practiced trying 'to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.' ◦
Kelleher believed that positions and titles signify absolutely nothing, and that people should be respected and trusted as people rather than because of their position or title. ◦
He used the practice of trying 'to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.' ◦
He distinguished between power and leadership, stating that 'power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.' ◦
He viewed strategic planning as a process of defining and redefining the company rather than customary long-range planning. ◦
He held that 'think small and act small, and we'll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we'll get smaller,' and avoided applying labels to things because they prevent expansive thinking. ◦
He framed Southwest's risk as internal, saying the primary potential enemy was 'ourselves, not our competitors.' ◦
Kelleher co-founded Southwest Airlines and built its success through low fares, a single aircraft type, and point-to-point scheduling rather than hub-and-spoke systems. ◦
He earned a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from New York University School of Law as a Root-Tilden Scholar, clerked for a New Jersey Supreme Court justice, and maintained his law practice while persisting through four years of lawsuits before Southwest could fly. ◦ ◦
He described Southwest as being in 'the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.' ◦
Kelleher was known for an outrageous personality that helped create a corporate culture where Southwest employees took themselves lightly but their jobs seriously. ◦
On hiring, he said that 'what we are looking for first and foremost is a sense of humor.' ◦
He stated that 'I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension.' ◦
At a 1997 testimony, he stated that he was 'unable to perform competently any meaningful function at Southwest,' and credited his employees for letting him serve as CEO. ◦
He said that 'leading an organization is as much about soul as it is about systems,' and that 'it takes nerves of steel to stay neurotic.' ◦
Kelleher was known for getting little sleep and his affinity for Wild Turkey bourbon and cigarettes, yet his outrageous personality created a corporate culture where Southwest employees took their jobs seriously. ◦
He described a 'Ready, fire, aim' approach to decision-making, noting 'you don't have a lot of time to fool around with aiming,' while also stating that 'you must be very patient, very persistent. The world isn't going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea.' ◦ ◦
At a 1997 testimony, he stated he was 'unable to perform competently any meaningful function at Southwest,' yet he served as CEO and president for 20 years starting in 1981. ◦ ◦
He stated that 'I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension,' while being known for an outrageous personality. ◦ ◦
In March 1992, he resolved a trademark dispute with Stevens Aviation CEO Kurt Herwald through an arm-wrestling match called 'Malice in Dallas,' which he lost but still gained rights to use the slogan. ◦
Kelleher advised that 'your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy.' ◦
He prioritized hiring for attitude over skills, stating that 'we will hire someone with less experience, less education, and less expertise, than someone who has more of those things and has a rotten attitude,' because 'we can train people' but 'we can't change their DNA.' ◦
He said that 'you don't hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.' ◦
He looked for candidates with a 'warrior spirit,' a 'servant's heart,' and a 'fun-loving attitude.' ◦
On hiring, he said that 'what we are looking for first and foremost is a sense of humor,' and that 'if you don't have a good attitude, we don't want you, no matter how skilled you are.' ◦
He believed that 'if you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it.' ◦
He counseled that 'you must be very patient, very persistent. The world isn't going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea. You're going to have to work like crazy to bring that idea to the attention of people.' ◦
He said that 'you can't really be disciplined in what you do unless you are humble and open-minded.' ◦