Week Four Discussion: Leadership at Southwest

Southwest CEO, Gary Kelly

Gary Kelly serves as the Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer at Southwest Airlines. A 23-year Southwest veteran who became CFO in 1989, Gary has worked closely with Southwest¿s legendary Cofounder and Chairman Emeritus Herb Kelleher and President Emeritus Colleen Barrett to build the nation¿s largest airline in terms of passengers¿and the undisputed Low-Fare Leader.

Gary began his career at Southwest Airlines as Controller, moving up to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President Finance, then Executive Vice President and CFO, before being promoted to CEO and Vice Chairman in July 2004. Gary assumed the role of Chairman in May 2008 and President in July 2008. Prior to joining Southwest Airlines in 1986, Gary was a CPA for Arthur Young & Company in Dallas and Controller for Systems Center, Inc.

Southwest Airlines is celebrating 37 years of consecutive profitability and was named #1 in Customer Satisfaction by the Department of Transportation for the year 2009. For the 13th year in a row, Fortune magazine listed Southwest Airlines among the world¿s most admired corporations. Gary has received awards and recognitions, including being named one of Business Travel News¿ 25 Most Influential Executives of 2004; named a finalist for Texan of the Year by the Dallas Morning News editors for the year 2005; honored with the 4th Annual Friends of Texas Public Schools Friend of the Year Award for 2008; named one of the best CEOs in America for 2008, 2009, and 2010 by Institutional Investor magazine; and most recently voted Dallas CEO of the Year by both the Dallas Morning News¿ ¿Top 100 Places to Work¿ and CEO magazine.

Gary received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs; chairs the McCombs School Advisory Council at the University of Texas at Austin; and was most recently named to the Lincoln National Corporation¿s Board of Directors.Kelly outlines Southwest¿s recipe for success below:

• Hire great people, treat ¿em like family.
• Care for our Customers warmly and personally, like they’re guests in our home.
• Keep fares and operating costs lower than anybody else by being safe, efficient, and operationally excellent.
• Stay prepared for bad times with a strong balance sheet, lots of cash, and a stout fuel hedge.

¿Throughout our history, we¿ve faced enormous challenges ranging from brutal competition to recessions to terrorism to hurricanes to soaring energy costs. We¿ve been able to overcome those challenges and still maintain our core values regarding People; Customers; operations; financial health; and performance¿for 37 years. That speaks volumes to discipline and consistency,¿ he said.

It¿s clear for Southwest that success equals working hard, having fun, and treating Customers like family. With those principles as a foundation, Southwest¿s success will continue for the next 37 years!

Complete your assigned reading and then watch the videos below corresponding with this week’s discussion. Next, respond to the Discussion questions below. Your first post should answer those questions and should be made by Thursday midnight. You should make two additional posts (three total) on separate days before the end of the week (Sunday midnight). Good luck.Player Controls

Video Player Controls: Gary Kelly on Becoming CEO of Southwest Airlines

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User: nutsaboutsouthwest – Added: 12/9/09 Player Controls

Video Player Controls: Southwest Airlines Operation: Kick Tail

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Video Player Controls: Gary Kelly and the Southwest Warriors

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User: nutsaboutsouthwest – Added: 3/18/09 Discussion assignments will be graded as follows:

Thoroughly answered all of the questions:    40

Quality of responses to two classmates:       20

References to text and/or other sources:    10

Spelling/Grammar at college level:               10

Posted on 3 separate days:                            20

TOTAL:   100 points

A simplified rubric will be posted in Comments associated with your weekly grade.
 

Discussion Posts (APA guidelines)

Be sure to use APA format when citing your sources (including the text) when making your Discussion posts. This applies to both short quotations and paraphrasing.CLICK HERE FOR MORE APA GUIDELINES 

YOU MUST POST ON AT LEAST THREE SEPARATE DAYS.

• WEEK 4 Discussion1. How would you describe Gary Kelly’s leadership style?   
  2. Would you say that he’s a charismatic leader? Why?   
  3. What sources of power does he have?   
  4. How does he motivate his followers?
  
  To post to the discussion, click on Week 4 Discussion Forum above, then Create Thread.

RESPONSES TO PEERS

Julie Lowe