Herb Kelleher Quotes

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Herb Kelleher

Profession : Businessman

Birth : March 12, 1931

Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.

Herb Kelleher

We will hire someone with less experience, less education, and less expertise than someone who has more of those things and has a rotten attitude. Because we can train people. We can teach people how to lead. We can teach people how to provide customer service. But we can't change their DNA.

Herb Kelleher

Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with employees and the rest follows from that.

Herb Kelleher

Fight hierarchy and bureaucracy as hard as you possibly can. Don't ever let it become the master; always remember it's the servant.

Herb Kelleher

I've always said manage in good times so that you're ready for the bad times.

Herb Kelleher

I forgive all personal weaknesses except egomania and pretension.

Herb Kelleher

You want to show your people that you value them, and you're not going to hurt them just to get a little more money in the short term. Not furloughing people breeds loyalty. It breeds a sense of security. It breeds a sense of trust.

Herb Kelleher

Nothing kills your company's culture like layoffs.

Herb Kelleher

Wild Turkey whiskey and Philip Morris cigarettes are essential to the maintenance of human life!

Herb Kelleher

Who says a lighthearted approach to business is incompatible with success?

Herb Kelleher

I tell my employees that we're in the service business, and it's incidental that we fly airplanes.

Herb Kelleher

Culture is intangible. It's spiritual. You can't buy it.

Herb Kelleher

You can't have a mid-life crisis in the airline industry because every day is a crisis.

Herb Kelleher

I'd say my mother made more of a difference to me than anyone else did. I know that's a conventional and perhaps mundane answer, but my family was blown apart at the start of World War II.

Herb Kelleher

The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is somebody who worries about whether he has a window.

Herb Kelleher

Anybody who seeks wealth as an end in itself is always going to be disappointed. What you really should be doing is seeking excellence in achievement.

Herb Kelleher

Southwest isn't a 'This is my job, that's your job' kind of company. Being successful is our job, and we're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that.

Herb Kelleher

Keep costs low and spirits high, and the people of Southwest Airlines will keep LUV in the air.

Herb Kelleher

The spirit of Southwest Airlines is exuberant, it's caring, it's dedicated, it's diligent, it's fun, it's rewarding, it's a joy.

Herb Kelleher

We've always operated on the thesis that a company can have a personality, that people can be themselves, and be very successful in business at the same time.

Herb Kelleher