Update: July 16 Leaders Legacy speaker. Topic: “Courage = Success.”
Occupation: Chairman of the Board and co-founder, Southwest Airlines.
Born: March 12, 1931, in Haddon Heights, New Jersey.
Business: Launched on June 18, 1971, Southwest now is the fourth largest major airline in America. Common stock is traded under the symbol “LUV” on the NYSE.
Education: B.A. with honors, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. LL.B. with honors, New York University.
Family: Married to Joan Negley. Children: Julie, Michael, Ruth, David.
First paying job: Branch manager, Philadelphia Bulletin. Earned $2.50 a week making sure papers got delivered in Haddon Heights, New Jersey.
Personal credo: “Take my job, not myself, seriously.”
What my mother taught me: “Title and position have nothing to do with a person’s worth.”
Leadership philosophy: “A company is much stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.”
Southwest’s core values: Profitability, low cost, family, fun, love, hard work, individuality, ownership, legendary service, egalitarianism, common sense, good judgment, simplicity, and altruism.
Southwest’s five basic principles: Focus on the situation, issue, or behavior — not the person. Maintain the self-confidence and self-esteem of others. Maintain constructive relationships with your employees, peers, and managers. Take initiative to make things better. Lead by example.
On customer service: “If our employees aren’t satisfied, they won’t satisfy the customer, and unsatisfied customers don’t return.”
How to stay profitable: “Manage in good times so that you're ready for bad times.”
Best advice ever received: “Trust people and they'll trust you.”
Best advice ever given: “Don’t give up.”
I often say: “The intangibles are more important than the tangibles.”
Most embarrassing moment: “None. They are all too frequent.”
Web site: www.southwest.com.