Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It - An Insider's View [Paperback]

Lorraine Grubbs-West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

Without a doubt, Southwest Airline’s phenomenal culture has become the envy of most of American CEOs. The Dallas-based airline’s unprecedented success, its ability to survive where others fail and its continued tradition of service excellence has garnered awards from every possible corner of a highly-competitive industry. The question is, how did it happen? After her retirement, Lorraine Grubbs-West -- a former Southwest Airlines VP -- took a look back at her 15-year tenure with Southwest Airlines. In her book, Lessons in Loyalty, she highlights some of the unique and successful business strategies that moved the company from an upstart start-up in a well-established field to more than 30 years of profitability and the recognized leader in today’s passenger aviation industry. In view of the challenges that continue to confront American business today, this book may be – as they say -- just what the doctor ordered. It’s brevity, easy-to-read format and straight-forward approach makes Lessons in Loyalty a primer for any firm wanting to build a loyal workforce capable of making the right things happen. But Grubbs-West makes her book an interesting journey of indelible wisdom, as well, designed especially for the busy business leader.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A must read, a practical guide to building your own winning team. --Noel M. Tichy, Professor, University of Michigan Ross School of Business

Required reading for any organization striving to create the right culture. --John Crisci, VP HR, VistaCare

...practical lessons for building a culture that fosters productivity, innovation and organizational success. --Libby Sartain, SVP Yahoo! Inc.

About the Author

Lorraine Grubbs-West was a senior executive with Southwest Airlines for fifteen years. Her career with Southwest included positions in marketing, employment and leadership development. She is now president and CEO of Lessons in Loyalty with the mission of providing tools and resources for organizations to create a postitive and productive culture.

Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: CornerStone Leadership Institute (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976252856
• ISBN-13: 978-0976252856
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars weLEAD Book Review from the Editor of leadingtoday.org, November 13, 2005

By 

Greg L. Thomas (Litchfield, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It - An Insider's View (Paperback)

Lessons in Loyalty is a fascinating book to read. For years, Southwest Airlines has become a legendary example of the power of servant leadership principles. Its achievements are impressive considering the competitive, cut-throat airline industry in which it thrives. Southwest Airlines has been named "one of the "Top Five Best Companies to Work for in America" by Fortune Magazine, It also has had the fewest customer complaints 18 years in a row as reported by the DOT Air Travel Consumer Report. The Southwest Airlines has been profitable for 31 consecutive years, named the "2nd Most Admired Company in America by Fortune Magazine, and has an average employee turnover rate of less than 10%. If you made a $10,000 investment in Southwest Airlines in 1972, it would be worth more than $10 million today. Are you impressed yet? How they did this is a captivating read and the author tells gives us the real reasons.

Lorraine Grubbs-West was a senior executive for Southwest Airlines for over 15 years. Lessons in Loyalty is an "insider's" view of work and life at the successful airlines. She discloses that what makes Southwest Airlines exceptional is "the strong employee and customer loyalty it has developed - a feeling of devotion, duty and attachment to Southwest". Most organizations would like to achieve this exceptional level of loyalty, yet they consistently perform actions that alienate people rather than foster loyalty. The author provides 9 Loyalty Lessons (Chapters) that outline the positive principles that have made the airline a winner. Some of the lessons include thought-provoking titles like "Hire Attitude - Train Skills", "People Give as Good as they Get", "Luv "Em in Tough Times", "Do What's Right", and "Nurture the Corporate Family".

Lessons in Loyalty is written with the same enthusiastic spirit and confidence that has made the airlines a phenomenon. There have been a number of fine books written to explain how and why Southwest Airlines has risen to the top tier of corporations. This excellent book, from the perspective of a former employee, is easy to read and reveals some exceptional principles not discussed in other books on the subject.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the purchase, January 11, 2009

By 

Chtulhu's Pilot (Streetsboro, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It - An Insider's View (Paperback)

There are better books about the inner workings of Southwest out there. This book is light in new information. Perhaps page count isn't the best way to judge a book but this book is thin, the font is big and spacing generous. It's like a high school paper where the student played with the format tools in order to meet the required page count.

It reads as if this is more of a summary of a presentation the author was giving about her experience at Southwest. Every Southwest employee I've talked too shares equal stories of their experience. Her's don't tell the story any better. I'd say skip it and stick with Nuts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lessons in Loyatly: How Southwest Airlines Does It, March 10, 2007

By 

K. Whicker (Salt Lake City) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lessons in Loyalty: How Southwest Airlines Does It - An Insider's View (Paperback)

This book gives an entertaining background on SouthWest Airlines culture, and how Southwest uses interview and hiring practices to protect that culture. In addition, it describes some of the unique actions Southwest takes to be loyal to it's own employees. Loyalty is the net result.

A quick read.