Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

THE AUTHOR TELLS THE STORIES WITH SUCH A MATTER OF FACT VOICE THAT IS EASY TO FOLLOW AND FUN TO KNOW HOW FROLICKY THE AIRLINE IS. WHEN ONE IS READING IT, S/HE THINKS THAT SOUTHWEST IS THE BEST PLACE TO WORK. I HAVE NOT HEARD MANY SAY SUCH NICE THINGS ABOUT THEIR OCCUPATION OR COMPANY.

GRUBBS-WEST RELATES TO HER READERS IN A WAY THAT IS COMFORTABLE AND APPEALING. CHAPTER 5 IS BY FAR MY FAVORITE - EVEN THOUGH THE WISDOM SPRINKLED LIKE NUGGETS THROUGHOUT THE BOOK IS GOOD FODDER FOR ALL BUSINESS ENDEAVORS - WITH ALL OF THE STORIES IN IT. I LAUGHED OUT LOUD AND LOVED THE ASPHALT STORY. ALSO, SHE IS BRAVE TO TELL ON HERSELF MAKING MISTAKES; YET IN DOING SO, SHE REVEALS THAT THIS IS THE CHARACTER OF THE EMPLOYEE THAT SOUTHWEST IS LOOKING FOR. I HAVE TO SAY IT IS IRONIC THAT THE AUTHOR'S NAME ENDS IN WEST LIKE THE COMPANY SHE LOVED WORKING FOR FOR SO LONG - MAYBE SUBCONCIOUSLY SHE'S MORE LOYAL THAN SHE KNOWS! IN THE BOOK, SHE TALKS ABOUT ONE OF THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT'S MIMICING THE "OSCAR MAYER" JINGLE AS "MY COMPANY HAS A FIRST NAME, IT'S S-O-U-T-H, MY COMPANY HAS A SECOND NAME, IT'S W-E-S-T..."

THIS BOOK IS A GOOD ONE FOR LEARNING ABOUT LOYALTY OF EMPLOYEES AND FOR TEACHING A COMPANY'S MANAGERS HOW TO MAKE THE WORKPLACE FUN AND PRODUCTIVE.