Aviation Leadership and Communication Report: Herb Kelleher Analysis

This report delves into the leadership of Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, examining his significant contributions to the aviation industry. It explores his transformational and democratic leadership styles, highlighting his innovative business model that revolutionized air travel by offering affordable short-haul routes. The report outlines key leadership theories and compares Kelleher's approach with other leaders such as Richard Branson and Steve Jobs, emphasizing his focus on employee empowerment and customer satisfaction. It also showcases Southwest Airlines' consistent profitability under Kelleher's leadership, contrasting its success with the challenges faced by the broader civil aviation industry. The report references multiple sources to provide a comprehensive analysis of Kelleher's lasting impact on the aviation sector, including his emphasis on people over profit and his ability to foster a high-performing organizational culture.

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Aviation Leadership and
Communication

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Table of Contents
Overview of Herb Kelleher........................................................................................................3
Concept of Leadership...............................................................................................................3
Key Leadership Theories...........................................................................................................3
Contribution of Herb Kelleher to the Aviation Industry............................................................4
Significant performance of Herb Kelleher.................................................................................4
Comparison of Herb Kelleher with Richard Branson................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Overview of Herb Kelleher
Herb Kelleher founded the Southwest Airlines during 1967 and acted as the CEO of the
Airlines Company till 2007. Herb Kelleher was born during 12th March, 1931 in New Jersey.
He was the 4th child in the family. In his student days, Kelleher was good at athletes and also
acted as the boy president in his high school (Reingold, 2013). Herb Kelleher thus reflected
innate qualities of leadership from his childhood days.
Concept of Leadership
Leadership is identified as a process through which business heads and managers tend to
influence their subordinates for the fulfilment of institutional objectives through the
incorporation of necessary changes (Lussier & Achua, 2016).
(Lussier & Achua, 2016)
Key Leadership Theories
Some key leadership theories are outlined as follows.
-Trait Theory of Leadership

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-Democratic/Participative Theory of Leadership
-Transformational Theory of Leadership
-Autocratic Theory of Leadership
-Servant Theory of Leadership
-Transactional Theory of Leadership
-Charismatic Theory of Leadership (Lussier & Achua, 2016).
Contribution of Herb Kelleher to the Aviation Industry
Herb Kelleher’s business model regarding Southwest Airlines is seen as a revolution in the
aviation industry. He thus acted as a transformational leader. The Southwest Airlines
operated as a budget airliner that contributed in meeting the demands of customers regarding
short haul routes at affordable rates (Andrews, 2011). Kelleher’s business model was
innovative in that it helped in automated flying operations like that of Henry Ford’s model of
rendering automation in car production activity (Koch, 2017).
Significant performance of Herb Kelleher
For the total annual period since during 1972, though the Southwest Airlines (SWA) under
the visionary and charismatic leadership styles of Herb Kelleher did not reflect losses since
the stated period. Further, during that period, Southwest Airlines also sharply contrasted the
state of the civil aviation industry that furloughed large number of employees (Elkins, 2017).
Further, till 2008, SWA reflected profitability for 127 quarters that helped it in paying
dividends. It also reflected that cash-in-hand of around $3 billion and credit amount for $600
million regarding SWA in the stated period (Cote, 2015).
Comparison of Herb Kelleher with Richard Branson and Steve Jobs
A comparison between the leadership styles of Herb Kelleher and Richard Branson reflects
that both the leaders empathized in taking care of the needs of its people and not focusing on
gaining of profits. Further, the two leaders are also observed to focus on generating effective
customer services for enhancing customer satisfaction (Bacon, 2011). Kelleher and Branson

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also focused on recruiting the right type of personnel based on their attitudes rather
depending on their skills and also in empowering the employees to take decisions on their
own and also operate with needed accountability (Gallo, 2013).
The comparison generated between the leadership styles of Herb Kelleher and Steve Jobs
reflect that the former acted as an exemplar of democratic and participative leadership (Doshi
& McGregor, 2015). The latter is identified to reflect an example of Hero Worship. Hero
Worship style of leadership relates that the success of Apple mostly owes to the leadership
approach and direction rendered by Steve Jobs (Sendjaya, 2015).

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References
Andrews, R. (2011). High Performance Human Capital Leadership. United States :
Lulu.com.
Bacon, T. R. (2011). The Elements of Power: Lessons on Leadership and Influence. United
States : AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Cote, B. (2015, October 13). Leadership Analysis: Southwest Airlines Flying High with Herb
Kelleher, Former CEO. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leadership-analysis-southwest-airlines-flying-high-
bob-cote-phd-mba
Doshi, N., & McGregor, L. (2015). Primed to Perform: How to Build the Highest Performing
Cultures Through the Science of Total Motivation. United Kingdom : HarperCollins.
Elkins, K. (2017, August 14). Why the Texas lawyer who started Southwest Airlines in 1967
never gave himself a raise or a bonus. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/14/herb-kelleher-never-took-a-pay-raise-or-bonus-at-
southwest.html
Gallo, C. (2013, September 10). How Southwest And Virgin America Win By Putting People
Before Profit. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2013/09/10/how-southwest-and-virgin-
america-win-by-putting-people-before-profit/#1e905686695a
Koch, R. (2017, February 14). How Southwest Airlines Created a Mass Market for Air Travel
. Retrieved August 29, 2017, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287095
Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2016). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill
Development. United States : Cengage Learning .
Reingold, J. (2013, January 14). Southwest’s Herb Kelleher: Still crazy after all these years.
Retrieved August 29, 2017, from http://fortune.com/2013/01/14/southwests-herb-
kelleher-still-crazy-after-all-these-years/

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Sendjaya, S. (2015). Personal and Organizational Excellence through Servant Leadership:
Learning to Serve, Serving to Lead, Leading to Transform. United Kingdom :
Springer .

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