"Competitors have tried and failed to copy us because they cannot copy our people."
There are a couple of things to take into account when listening to Kelleher's comments, because anybody can and does repeat this mantra one way or another; whether it's practically true or not in a company.
Making Southwest Airlines (LUV) a great company wasn't considered complicated by Kelleher, as it all starts with hiring the right people in the first place. Everything pretty much starts and ends there.
What's important is how those people are treated once we get them. In the end, that's really the game of business no matter where you live in the world, as far as attracting and keeping great people.
Now when I say "how people are treated," I'm talking about treating them with respect of course, as that's the foundation for the rest.
Keeping that in mind, we also have to give them great training and latitude to give them the tools and freedom to do their jobs at the highest level possible.
See how simple that is? And yet, very few companies are able to accomplish what we're talking about. It's easy to understand, but difficult to commit to and execute.
The reason why it's almost impossible to copy, is it's connected to putting it into action. You can't just look at the end result of the success of a company and then copy that, it doesn't work that way. All you're doing is copying the outward things that result from something happening within. Copying the outward is never an answer to what can help a company succeed. That's why Southwest was so difficult to emulate. The same is true of other great companies as well.
It's the entire process that results in a company having great people, which make it a great company; it's the entire culture, systems and attitudes that make the people and company who their are.
No matter how much we attempt to figure out and copy another company, it doesn't work. The best we can do is find some things that work in another company, and adapt them to who and what our people and company uniquely are. If we don't, it'll just become a lesson in futility, which many companies have already found out.
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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