Analysis of Swa
Analysis of Leadership, Power, and Motivation within Southwest Airlines Company
Abstract The leadership, culture, and committed workforce at Southwest Airlines Company helps keep good communication flowing within the organization. A combination of both a supportive and participative leadership style with a very charismatic CEO gives this organization an edge above all other organizations. Having mastered a motivational technique within the company also helps keep their employees working hard and wanting to not only better themselves but better the organization. Lastly, the committed workforce at Southwest helps to keep communication flowing between upper management and front-line employees. Southwest manages to find a perfect fit for their employees who not only maintain their individuality, but want to make Southwest the best organization that it can be.
Southwest Airlines Company (SWA) is an organization with strong values, strong leadership, and a strong workforce. These qualities combine to create a very unique organizational culture. Where other airlines emphasize the passenger comes first, Southwest emphasizes their employees as the airline’s “first customer”. This has been an integral part of Southwest’s culture (Smith). I will first look into the culture at SWA. Specifically at the leadership style currently employed, and then I will look at how different leadership styles would affect this organization. From the outside looking in, it is pretty easy to see the leadership style of SWA’ CEO Herb Kelleher as being very charismatic. He has a very “unorthodox style when compared to CEO’s of other major corporations” (Kim). This charismatic leader inspires people in his organization to place the needs of the company on a level with their personal needs. This has an unbelievable effect on followers. Being such a charismatic leader, Kelleher is extremely self-confident. He has a
Abstract The leadership, culture, and committed workforce at Southwest Airlines Company helps keep good communication flowing within the organization. A combination of both a supportive and participative leadership style with a very charismatic CEO gives this organization an edge above all other organizations. Having mastered a motivational technique within the company also helps keep their employees working hard and wanting to not only better themselves but better the organization. Lastly, the committed workforce at Southwest helps to keep communication flowing between upper management and front-line employees. Southwest manages to find a perfect fit for their employees who not only maintain their individuality, but want to make Southwest the best organization that it can be.
Southwest Airlines Company (SWA) is an organization with strong values, strong leadership, and a strong workforce. These qualities combine to create a very unique organizational culture. Where other airlines emphasize the passenger comes first, Southwest emphasizes their employees as the airline’s “first customer”. This has been an integral part of Southwest’s culture (Smith). I will first look into the culture at SWA. Specifically at the leadership style currently employed, and then I will look at how different leadership styles would affect this organization. From the outside looking in, it is pretty easy to see the leadership style of SWA’ CEO Herb Kelleher as being very charismatic. He has a very “unorthodox style when compared to CEO’s of other major corporations” (Kim). This charismatic leader inspires people in his organization to place the needs of the company on a level with their personal needs. This has an unbelievable effect on followers. Being such a charismatic leader, Kelleher is extremely self-confident. He has a
References: Judge, Timothy A., Robbins, Stephen P. Organizational Behavior. Fourteenth Edition, 1997. Kelly, Gary. Doing the Right Thing. p 2-13 Kim, Eun. Liggin, Fred. McKinney, Genita. Norris, Keith. Owens, Sonya. Southwest Airlines 25 Years of LUV. Retrieved from http://www.cobweb2.louisville.edu . Smith, Gene. An Evaluation of the corporate culture of Southwest Airlines. 4 Nov 2004, Vol. 8, Issue 4, p 26-33.