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You can't have a culture of commitment and performance without equitable employee compensation

When talking about the extreme importance of creating a culture of commmitment, Kelleher said that it would be impossible "without equitable employee compensation."

Considering the outrageous pay packages some CEOs have gotten no matter how the company performed, Kelleher was way ahead of his time when understanding this crucial reality.

He said it this way: "You can't have a culture of commitment and performance without equitable employee compensation, and that includes executive compensation. Our officers -- whom I consider the best in the business -- are paid 30 percent less, on average, than their counterparts at other airlines, and at companies of similar size in other industries."

Part of this goes back to understanding the great vision that the company had, and the pride across the entire company in the service they offered to so many consumers, who otherwise wouldn't have been able to do the things they could because of Southwest (LUV).

The leaders knew they couldn't expect the type of commitment to low prices for their customers, without them being part of the solution to the problem, and they responded accordingly and led by example.

When you look at how the workers responded to crisis within the companies when times occasionally got tough, you see the payback far beyond the vast majority of companies could ever expect out of their people.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

A Culture of Commitment

HERB KELLEHER

The wild turkey

Herb Kelleher on the Record, Part 1

Herb Kelleher Talks about How Southwest Airlines Grew from Entrepreneurial Startup to Industry Leadership

Belief Model for The Leadership of Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines)

Herb Kelleher, Chairman, CEO and President, Southwest Airlines

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