![]() ![]() Thirty years after Southwest went public, Smart Money magazine concluded that it had been the best-performing stock over those three decades - better than IBM, Merck, or other alluring names. In more than 45 years, in an industry famous for red ink and high-profile bankruptcies, Southwest has never had a money-losing year - ever. Southwest’s performance since it began as a public company in 1971 is the stuff of business legend. As I take stock of his life and legacy, what strikes me is how much all of us can learn from what he created and how he led-that you can create vast economic value based on genuine and generous human values, why what you hope to achieve in the marketplace must be reflected in what you build in the workplace, how in an age of disruption and transformation, simplicity and consistency matter most. ![]() Herb Kelleher died last week at the age of 87, and with him went a true business original. When I spent a little time with him after the talk, I realized immediately that I was in the presence of leadership greatness - an entrepreneur who was as smart as he was sassy, as competitive as he was human, as consequential as he was approachable. Herb walked to the podium, lit a cigarette, poured a glass of Wild Turkey bourbon, and delivered what remains the most hilarious, baudy, utterly brilliant CEO speech I have ever heard. I was a newly minted editor at HBR, fresh out of business school, and I was attending a big, prestigious (and, to be honest, rather boring) conference on corporate strategy in New York City.Īfter a morning of tedious three-ring-binder presentations from executives, and stuffy lectures by professors, it was time for the keynote speaker. Most everyone who met Herb Kelleher, the larger-than-life cofounder and longtime CEO of Southwest Airlines, has a story about his or her initial encounter with the man, so I’ll begin this reflection on his legacy with mine. ![]()
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