The Southwest Airlines Way
The following questions pertain to the Ten Southwest Practices for Building High Performance Relationships. With regard to questions 1 - 4 please explain what they mean to you within a service management focused organization.
1. "Lead with Credibility and Caring"?
Many believe that leadership is related to an individual’s level or position within a company; many people refer to the leadership of an organization as embodying the individuals who hold executive positions. However, most executives within an organization are simply just individuals who have been promoted to a higher standing within a company, yet that does not guarantee they have the qualities or skills necessary to be effective leaders. In this sense, leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. Trust and accessibility, are the most important elements to be summed up as forces that energizes, directs, and maintains an individual’s effort on a particular task. Credibility is the feeling of trust and respect that a leader inspire in others. In my opinion this is one of the most important elements to be considered when it comes to manage a service company. The leader who has credibility energizes and excites his or her entire team and attracts enthusiastic and committed followers (employees). The team knows that the leader would do the right things for the right reasons and therefore it will trust on her/him. When a service company has a commitment and energizes team of workers; a higher service quality will be provided. Therefore, the higher the quality of the service provided by a company the higher the number of people willing to pay for this service. As an example, Southwest Airline’s CEO herb Kelleher and his top management team have excelled at gaining the trust of managers in the field and frontline employees. They have built trust over time by being up front and consistent in their message and therefore its employees feel
1. "Lead with Credibility and Caring"?
Many believe that leadership is related to an individual’s level or position within a company; many people refer to the leadership of an organization as embodying the individuals who hold executive positions. However, most executives within an organization are simply just individuals who have been promoted to a higher standing within a company, yet that does not guarantee they have the qualities or skills necessary to be effective leaders. In this sense, leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal. Trust and accessibility, are the most important elements to be summed up as forces that energizes, directs, and maintains an individual’s effort on a particular task. Credibility is the feeling of trust and respect that a leader inspire in others. In my opinion this is one of the most important elements to be considered when it comes to manage a service company. The leader who has credibility energizes and excites his or her entire team and attracts enthusiastic and committed followers (employees). The team knows that the leader would do the right things for the right reasons and therefore it will trust on her/him. When a service company has a commitment and energizes team of workers; a higher service quality will be provided. Therefore, the higher the quality of the service provided by a company the higher the number of people willing to pay for this service. As an example, Southwest Airline’s CEO herb Kelleher and his top management team have excelled at gaining the trust of managers in the field and frontline employees. They have built trust over time by being up front and consistent in their message and therefore its employees feel