Friday, September 5, 2008

Colleen Barrett: Sharing the “Luv”

I recently had the opportunity to hear Ms. Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines, speak at an event organized by Dallas Business Club.

Ms. Barrett has been with Southwest since its early years, starting as a corporate secretary in 1978 and rising through the ranks to become the President and Chief Operating Officer. She is known for her remarkable leadership, her instrumental role in hiring the right talent for Southwest and defining the Southwest culture. A strong advocate of the “Golden Rule”, Ms. Barrett embodies the Southwest values and is described by some as the “heart of southwest”.

Ms. Barrett talked about her journey at Southwest, her beliefs and the Southwest culture. She engaged the audience, shared some interesting stories while giving valuable lessons in strategy and leadership. Here are my key takeaways from her session:

Customer service: “We tell job applicants we're in the customer service business. We just happen to provide airline transportation" – echoed Ms. Barrett’s belief in customer service being at the core of Southwest’s strategy. Southwest has been consistently ranked #1 in customer service. With the turmoil and uncertainty in the airlines business, most airlines seem to skimp on customer service. But Southwest’s commitment to a pleasant air travel experience helps it differentiate itself.

Employee empowerment: Ms. Barrett talked about empowering the employees to make the right decisions to serve the customers best. She stressed that while there should be policies and rules in place, yet she believes that the employees should have the freedom to use common sense and do the right thing, which ties into great customer service. Another hugely successful example of employee empowerment is the Four Seasons hotel chain that has become the benchmark in hospitality.

Living the core values every day: There are few companies that practice their core values as well as Southwest does. Ms. Barrett talked about how Southwest seeks the values in prospective candidates and how they reinforce it every day with the employees at all levels in the organization and this is what defines the unique Southwest culture. Southwest encourages employees to have fun and show their personality. Because ultimately, only happy employees can lead to happy customers.

Hiring the right people: Southwest is known to hire people based on their attitude and training them for skill. This not only helps Southwest stay close to its culture but it also helps it keep employees happy and retains them for the longest period of time - Ms. Barrett being one of the greatest examples, having served Southwest for over 30 years! Southwest has among the lowest turnover in the airline industry and this translates into lower costs.

Being "good value" versus "cheap": When someone asked Ms. Barrett about how Southwest differentiates itself from other low fare airlines, Ms. Barrett said that Southwest is trying to provide good value for money versus being a cheap airline. Southwest does not nickel and dime its customers by charging fees for checking bags and getting beverages and snacks.

The Southwest model has been among the most popular case studies of all times But in the face of stiff competition both from a string of airlines trying to emulate Southwest’s model and other incumbents, rising fuel costs and weak economy, it would be interesting to see how the new President Gary Kelly and other leaders at Southwest will continue the Southwest legacy of providing affordable air transportation with exemplary customer service, while making money in the process.

Click here for a news article on Colleen Barrett stepping down as Southwest's President
Click here to read Colleen Barrett’s bio
Click here to read Southwest’s blog

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