You Can't Just Lead by the Numbers
Herb Kelleher said more than once that you can't lead by the numbers. Have you ever been in the endless corporate meetings where the numbers are droned out without any emotion or feeling?
The point is that numbers are something that tell a story; they are a tool that measures the success of what it is that is really important. It isn't that numbers aren't significant, we need to have a solid grasp of them. Rather, it's that numbers 
aren't to be the major or sole criteria to lead by.
When you focus on numbers, the focus is on the wrong thing. When you focus on what produces the numbers, that's when their importance will come out. Businesses led only by numbers are businesses without any heart and soul, and the results will bear that out by those very numbers themselves.
What numbers ultimately do is reveal an objective look at the subjective daily operations of the business and workers. They'll let you know if you're really offering great customer service. They'll report to you the way your workers feel about the company. On and on it goes.
The significance of numbers isn't in initiating success and motivation, but rather are the key to objectively measuring them. We aren't to neglect the story numbers reveal to us, we instead use them to find places in our businesses and departments that need to be improved and worked on.
Other Herb Kelleher Sources:
Herb Kelleher on the Record, Part 1
Belief Model for The Leadership of Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines)
Herb Kelleher, Chairman, CEO and President, Southwest Airlines
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