The legacy of Herb Kelleher: A company that dared to put customers second

When a company lets you see its heart, it's more than just a business

The legendary founder of one of the most beloved airlines in the U.S. has passed. Herb Kelleher was a titan in the industry and history will show that his vision of a company that puts its employees first and is never afraid to let them be themselves can succeed in the cut-throat, volatile airline business climate. In all likelihood, Southwest Airlines will enter 2019 having achieved 46 consecutive years of profitability. The airline has never had a furlough. But the secret to the success of what is now the largest passenger carrier in the U.S. in terms of domestic passengers carried doesn't just lie in the business model of simple fares and no seat assignments. The success comes from within – a culture built on trust, where employees are allowed to be creative and resourceful to get the job done. That culture was built by Herb Kelleher.

I've worked for two major airlines, neither of them Southwest. I remember reading the book Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg while on an airline pass heading to who-knows-where. There was a particular line of text in the book that struck me. It said that for Southwest, customers came second. I showed it to one of the flight attendants during one of our shop talk sessions at cruising altitude. We both shook our heads as if to say: "Isn't that something? I wish our company could believe that." At our company, we were afraid of upsetting our customers. Getting an angry letter was like getting points on your driver's license for a moving violation, only more personal and visible. Sure, we believed in making things right for our customers, but we also had to stay within the rails of policies and procedures that sometimes were in conflict with what was truly the best resolution. It was an art form I was proud to achieve with regularity, but still, in the back of my head, I wondered what it would be like to work at a company that put its employees at the very top of its list of priorities and let them be themselves.

In an interview with the U.S. business network CNBC a few years ago, Herb Kelleher shared the guiding principles for success at Southwest: "Employees first, customers second, shareholders third." Herb knew that by making employees feel valued and trusted, the other two would also be well served. That formula, what he referred to as a chain, has led to nearly a half-century's worth of success and profitability for Southwest. In my own airline employee experience, we were constantly told that "maximizing shareholder value" was the guiding principle behind the company's business decisions. Sure, that's what publicly traded companies are responsible for, but an investment in people first tends to bring that result organically. Herb Kelleher understood that.

The airline has grown far beyond the folksy regional persona it embodied in 1971 when its first flights took to the air solely within Texas. The airline's personality was certainly a reflection of the "why not, and why not now?" attitude of its colorful leader, but Kelleher also believed that empowering employees to do what was right while removing any restrictions to their individuality was a key factor in creating a successful culture at Southwest. Another item that stood out from that book was the fact that Southwest always believed in hiring for attitude and then training for skills. Finding the right people and then putting them in the roles that make them shine has translated to a consistently high customer satisfaction ranking for the airline over several decades. It's still astounding to me that more companies, especially those that are service-driven, don't follow this simple tenet.

It's not my intention to paint a perpetually rosy picture or to puff up a company I don't even work for (but wouldn't mind to someday). The truth is, Southwest faces the same challenges of costs and competition that every airline does. And the bigger it gets, the pressure to do things like the other big airlines do increases. But the culture that created Southwest Airlines – the culture built and nurtured by Herb Kelleher – is the lifeblood of the company, and that's what sets it apart from the others. As simple as it sounds, it's not easy to duplicate and you can't just turn a mediocre staff into budding stars with some magic wand or some corporate acronym. A company has to commit to its people from the get-go and build a culture from that core outward to its customers. Trust and respect have to be earned and sticking to that commitment without fail is what it takes to make it happen. There are no "backsies" when it comes to elevating employees to a top priority.

There are plenty of books and articles for you to read about the giant that was Herb Kelleher. You can read about the funny stories, the love he showed his employees by being part of their day-to-day, and the battles he fought not only to get his airline off the ground and keep it flying amid regulations and restrictions uniquely imposed on his airline, but also to keep fee-hungry shareholders at bay as the airline started playing with the big boys. It truly is the stuff of legend. And that's what Herb Kelleher was. Though he stepped down as chairman a decade ago, there's no denying his impact on the industry he helped reshape. The "Southwest effect" is still a thing and we have Herb Kelleher to thank.

Kelleher's legacy is set and, as an airline aficionado, I feel a sense of loss. My thoughts go out to the entire Southwest family. For me, there's sadness because so many companies are afraid to put it all out there and make their people the core of their business, relying instead on formulas and models crafted in business schools that certainly yield success, but also also cost more to layer over their cold and impersonal DNA. It takes a visionary leader to take a different path, and those are few and far between.

Companies talk about being disrupters in their industry as if they just thought of the concept. Well, Kelleher was truly an original. For him it was all about heart and the love for his employees and his customers. The airline's fleet displays a heart on the belly of each aircraft. It's a reminder of where its success comes from. It's also a fitting tribute to a man who created a company built on the love of people, based it at an airport called Love Field, and which publicly trades with the stock symbol LUV. There won't be another Herb Kelleher, but may he inspire more leaders to be as passionate about their people as they are about their profits. If there's one thing Herb taught an industry, it's that one begets the other.