If you’ve read any of my books, you know there has always been an emphasis on internal service. The Employee Golden Rule, as I call it, is to treat employees the way you want the customer treated, maybe even better. Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines are model examples of that rule in action.
One of the seven strategies in “The Amazement Revolution” is Walk the Walk. That means that you don’t say one thing and do something else. You are genuine and what you see is what you get. One of the role-models in this strategy is Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines.
If you’ve been reading the Shepard Letter or any of my past books, you know there has always been an emphasis on internal service. The Employee Golden Rule, as I call it, is to treat employees the way you want the customer treated, maybe even better. Herb Kelleher and Southwest are model examples of that rule in action.
From the very beginning, Kelleher believed in an employee-first approach which, at the time, was considered an extremely controversial first principle as management philosophies go. But Kelleher really meant it, and he insisted on it for sound strategic reasons. When you build a company around the idea of taking care of employees, taking care of customers becomes easier for everyone. As Kelleher himself put it:
“Years ago, business gurus used to apply the business school conundrum to me: ‘Who comes first? Your shareholders, your employees, or your customers?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s easy,’ but my response was heresy at that time. I said employees come first and if employees are treated right, they treat the outside world right, the outside world uses the company’s product again, and that makes the shareholders happy. That really is the way that it works, and it’s not a conundrum at all.”
This was Kelleher’s “mantra.” He lived and breathed the strategy that the success of the Southwest Airlines starts with service to employees. It became embedded within the working culture of the company. Kelleher’s insistence on this point is, I believe, the real reason that airline has succeeded so memorably at a time when so many of its competitors have faltered. Following this philosophy, Kelleher built a community of employees who walked the walk, and he eventually handed the company over to executives who walked the walk. The transition was seamless—one of the reasons why Southwest is still an amazing organization!
BOOK RECOMMENDATION!
I’m very excited to recommend “Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible” by Daniel Burrus. Dan will teach you how to predict the future, and you don’t have to be physic to do so. He will show you how solve “impossible” problems, unearth “invisible” opportunities, create must-have products and high-demand services, and run an extraordinarily successful business. This book will totally change the way you think about opportunities in both the present and the future. Find out more at: http://www.FlashForesight.com
THE AMAZEMENT REVOLUTION IS COMING!
If you like the above article on Herb Kelleher, you will love my newest book, “The Amazement Revolution,” available in April 2011. Using 50 “role model” companies as examples, the book focuses on seven strategies that will help any company, large or small, create amazing customer (and employee) experiences. The above article on Herb Kelleher and Southwest Airlines is an example of what you will read in the book. For a sneak preview, go to http://www.AmazementRevolution.com.
Past articles from Shep are available by visiting http://www.hyken.com or http://www.TheCustomerFocus.com
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep's customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
Copyright 2010 by Shep Hyken. Used with permission.