Leadership in Action Chapter 10

Developing Leaders at Southwest Airlines

Edited by Alfredo Elicerio
Final Case Study Ethics Leadership II

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

Leaders must do more than just accomplish day to day tasks, but rather they need to
prepare followers to deal with uncertainty and take more responsibility. They do this by
providing a vision and inspire others to commit to it. The mission of Southwest Airlines towards
its employees is We are committed to provide our Employees a stable work environment with
equal opportunity for learning and personal growth. Creativity and innovation are encouraged for
improving the effectiveness of Southwest Airlines. Above all, Employees will be provided the
same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that they are expected to share
externally with every Southwest Customer (SWA Mission 1988). Southwest Airlines has set
clearly set a standard for their employees and their organization. SWA is a healthy organization
that prides itself in being driven by a purpose and vision. The purpose of Southwest Airlines
employees is to provide the highest quality of customer service delivered with a sense of
warmth, friendliness, individual price and company spirit (SWA Mission 1988). In order for this
organization to provide the highest customers service they must always strive to improve their
service and culture. The culture of organization the size of SWA needs committed leaders.
Southwest Airlines has done a great job in uniting employees around a communal vision and
therefore making this organization successful. The model that Southwest is using to motivate and
engage its employees is by using transformational leadership.
In this case, we see that Southwest Airlines is committed towards providing customers
the best experience and giving employees the greatest support to become successful. The
organization culture is the focal point of success and leaders are motivated towards mentoring

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

and coaching employees (Nahavandi, pg336). This strategy of success begins in the hiring
process by carefully selecting people and being very clear about expectations and company
culture. One of the best things an organization can do in the hiring process is to be clear with the
individual. In previous years I have been interviewed by several organizations and there was only
company that has described to me what their mission goal is and what they expect from its
employees. When an organization has its mind set straight on a particular goal, it makes it easier
for others to follow and understand. We all want to know why we want to work and what the
purpose of going to work every day is. SWAs approach continues after the hiring process
towards helping the hired personnel to develop into the culture of the organization and start
leading the way. They are closely monitored and removed if they do not fit the organization but if
they are promoted if they represent the spirit of the company (Nahavandi, pg336). We can see in
this case that Southwest Airlines does its best to develop leaders by using leadership trainings for
everyone. Therefore making the SWA organization culture a transformational one.
I believe that the leadership theory that best describes SWA is the Transformational
Leadership. Southwest Airlines is providing a supportive culture that develops leaders and
leadership (Nahavandi, pg336). We see all over the case that transformational leadership is what
makes a strong foundation for this this organization. From leadership training, communication
about leadership in company bulletins and presentations by outside consultants and leadership
briefings are just some of the types of ways SWA provides its employees to become successful
leaders. The supportive environment and the shared responsibility of Southwest Airlines is one of
the staples of this organization. Transformational leaders exert influence by shaping the
organizational culture (Moynihan).
Transformational leadership focuses on increasing organization success, commitment,
and effectiveness (Bass, 2000). When applying transformational leadership the vision must be

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

clear for the entire organization and be able to inspire them to work towards it. Focusing on
making tomorrow better for employees and customers. This vision provides employees purpose
for attending work and providing the best customer services. It establishes the culture to become
positive and functional towards providing the best services. The vision that Southwest Airlines
creates is solid and all employees stand for it. SWA has done a great job on communicating that
vision. The Warrior spirit, which focusses on caring, emotions and putting employees first
(Nahavandi, pg336). This spirit is what motivates employees to be transformative and mirror this
toward others. They feel empower and this inspires them. Research by Masi and Cooke (2000)
compared the impact of transformational leadership and transactional leadership on follower
motivation, empowerment, and commitment to quality (Zang, 2012). Employees of SWA are
inspired and deliver the vision because of the authenticity of its leaders. Being authentic towards
the mission and not just for personal gains will inspire others to do the same. The integrity of
Southwest Airlines inspires the employees to take action and be significant. We see that the
culture inspired by former CEO Colleen Barnett led the company to be fun, spirited, zesty, hardworking, and filled with love. Another reason why I believe this organization uses
transformational leadership is that it SWA provides a growth mindset. Individual effort and
performance is acknowledged and leads to promotions. Employees who understand this no
longer see the typical glass ceiling environment others are used to. Southwest Airlines cultivate
the organization professional and personal development to highly fit the organization standards.
The investment that SWA applies towards employees is by providing them with leadership tools.
The great thing about this is that it is not just for upper management but rather for everyone
including frontline employees. This type of transformational approach is significant and
motivating. I myself now want to work for such organization it sounds like a great fit for me..

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

The statement is clear that its all about the people not just the BS [Big Shot] leaders
(Nahavandi, pg337).
A comparable theory that can be considered being used by Southwest Airlines is
the servant leadership and path-goal theory. The servant leadership theory focuses more on the
followers than the leader him/herself. Many of the companies rated at best places to work in the
U.S name servant leadership as the core value (Navahandi, pg194). The concept of servant
leadership is that the focus is on the follower and empowering them. We do build our pyramid a
bit different at the top of our pyramid in terms of priority is our employees, and delivering to
them proactive customer service. If we do a good enough job of that, they in turn spend their
time trying to assure the second most important group on our pyramid our passengers feels
good about the service they are getting (Colleen). We can see that this leadership style is part of
this organization but not quite what drives the entire company. It is different because the focus is
on the entire organization creating leaders rather than all being servants.
The path-goal theory is also similar to the transformational approach at SWA. This is
because the path-goal theory aims to provide a clear vision to the subordinates of what goals
need to be accomplished. In transformational leadership the vision mission is the ultimate goal
and what every employees strives for. Path-goal theory can also be considered similar because
there are high goals placed by SWA on its employees. They are provided with leadership tools to
be successful and clear visual is provided of what is required of them. The path-goal theory
includes supportive leadership, which is exactly what SWA does. The path-goal-theory might be
different from the transformational approach used by SWA. This is because path-goal uses the
strategy that focuses attributes selected by leaders for specific behaviors that best suits the
employees needs and the working environment so that they may best guide the employees
through their path in the obtainment of their daily work activities (Northhouse, 2013). At SWA it

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

is about the entire organization including customers and employees. Leaders are developed to be
encourage leadership.
By working towards one mission, being authentic and promoting creativity Southwest
Airlines has become a successful organization. It is evident that Southwest Airlines applies the
transformational leadership style. An Organization with transformational leadership are
constantly being transformed for the better. Southwest Airlines is becoming better because of the
way they are empowering other individual to help lead the organization. This organization is
leading the way for others to apply the same successful strategy.

Leadership in Action Chapter 10

7
References

Nahavandi, Afsaneh. The Art and Science of Leadership. Boston: Pearson, 2015. Print.

Southwest Airlines Mission. (January, 1988). Retrieved from

https://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/
Carmine, G. (2014, January 21). Southwest Airlines Motivates Its Employees With A
Purpose Bigger Than A Paycheck.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/01/21/southwest-airlines-motivates-itsemployees-with-a-purpose-bigger-than-a-paycheck/
D.P Moynihan, (2011) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/images/publications/facstaff/moynihan/jpart2011may.pdf

Bass, Bernard M. "Leadership in Action." Journal Of Leadership & Organizational

Studies (2000):.
Web.https://www.essr.net/~jafundo/mestrado_material_itgjkhnld/IV/Lideran

%C3%A7as/Leadership%20in%20Learning%20Orgns.pdf

Zhang, Zhipeng, and Xiancheng Zhu. "Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Organizational Culture and Organizational Performance." Proceedings of 2012 National
Conference on Information Technology and Computer Science (2012): n. pag. Web.

What Is Servant Leadership? Thoughts from Southwest Airlines President, Colleen

Barrett. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2015.
http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2010/09/20/what-is-servant-leadership-thoughts-fromsouthwest-airlines-president-colleen-barrett/
Path-Goal Leadership Theory. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2015.
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/lead_path_goal.html