Image: Bill Abbott (CC2)
Southwest Airlines’ iconic founder Herb Kelleher passed into eternity on 3 January 2019 at the age of 87.
As the consummate servant-leader, Kelleher’s loss will leave a void in the lives of the millions of people whose lives he touched.
Although the man is gone now, his wisdom remains.
Here are just a few of my favorite Herb Keller quotes about business, leadership, and life in general to ponder as you remember his impactful life.
We have a strategic plan. It’s called ‘doing things.’
A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than fear.
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?’
The core of our success. That’s the most difficult thing for a competitor to imitate. They can buy all the physical things. The things you can’t buy are dedication, devotion, loyalty—the feeling that you are participating in a crusade.
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. We can teach people how to lead. We can teach people how to provide customer service. But we can’t change their DNA.
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. They’re not going to buy it unless they know about it.
You can’t really be disciplined in what you do unless you are humble and open-minded.
Leading an organization is as much about soul as it is about systems. Effective leadership finds its source in understanding.
Treat your employees like customers.
Think small and act small, and we’ll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we’ll get smaller.
I’ve always been able to make erroneous decisions very quickly.
Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.
If you’re crazy enough to do what you love for a living, then you’re bound to create a life that matters.
Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.
The essential difference in service is not machines or ‘things.’ The essential difference is minds, hearts, spirits, and souls.
I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension.
You can’t have a mid-life crisis in the airline industry because every day is a crisis.
One piece of advice that always stuck in my mind is that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position or title.
The important thing is to take the bricklayer and make him understand that he’s building a home, not just laying bricks.
Just because you don’t announce your plan doesn’t mean you don’t have one.
The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is somebody who worries about whether he has a window.
The tragedy of our time is that we’ve got it backwards; we’ve learned to love techniques and use people.
To be an excellent leader, you have to be a superb follower.
The more time I spend with our people, the more I find out about our business.
Hire for attitude, train for skill.
If you don’t treat your own people well, they won’t treat other people well.
The business of business is people.
If you interact with people in any capacity at all — that is, if you aren’t a total recluse — then I highly recommend these two books to learn more about Herb Kelleher and the unique nature of Southwest Airlines:
- Nuts!: Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success — This is an excellent peek behind the curtain at Southwest Airlines and it shows in great detail the ways in which Herb Kelleher’s brand of servant-leadership combined with his insatiable drive built the iconic LUV brand and turned the airline industry on its head.
- The Southwest Airlines Way — Southwest Airlines has enjoyed unparalleled success in an industry that is know to eat its young. The Southwest Airlines Way tells how the company builds and maintains “high-performance relationships” to keep ahead of its competitors.
