Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Why You've Really Gotta Believe

At the time when Herb Kelleher helped to start Southwest Airlines (LUV) the industry was heavily regulated, and he had to find a loophole in the law to even be able to start the venture. The loophole he found was to fly intrastate, an idea he got from Pacific Southwest Airlines which also started in California as an intrastate airline.

But just because he found a loophole didn't mean that his competitors were going to stand by and let them enter into competition with them. And they didn't.

The existing carriers at the time - Braniff, Trans-Texas, and Continental - started a long-term battle that would have discouraged many a person into quitting and giving up. What they didn't know was that Kelleher wasn't made that way.

Many times companies that use law suits as a competitive tool, aren't in it to necessarily even win the law suit, but to beat the competition into the ground by having them give up before it's all over.

As Kelleher said: "I was involved in 31 separate administrative and/or judicial proceedings with those carriers over four or five years. I made three trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, and a judge at the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals said: I have sat on this bench for 30 years, and this is the worst case of business harassment I've ever seen."

Even though that was the case, the procedures had to be endured.

These types of tests will come over and over again to managers and executives. Many times all we can do is hang on to what we believe in and go through the pain of giving birth to, or growing, a business or division. When it comes down to it, this is all we'll have at the numberous times we face discouragment and seemingly overwhelming opposition and hurdles.

Kelleher was a true believer and kept at it until he got what he was after.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

Special Event

Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher

The CEO as Brand Guardian

Herb's way

Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky

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