Their strategic plan was to make "flexible goals" and "guideposts" (Kelleher, 1997). Kelleher did not want his company to plan on detailed action plans. This is why Southwest airlines are different in the way they do their planning. In a magazine article that Herb Kelleher did with a journalist of Fortune Magazine by the name of (Huey, J. 1999), he was asked "How do you renew a big organization, renew your own spirit, and, most important, renew the sense of purpose of your employees?" he replied by saying "think small and act small, and we'll get bigger. Think big, be complacent, be cocky, and we'll get smaller.".
The way Herb Kelleher would communicate with large numbers of employees is by constant visits to the workplaces of employees and keeping up regular newsletters. He likes to go to meetings not to give out orders of what needs to be done and what is expected but to learn of employee's problems and help them out as much as he can. (Kelleher, 1997) believes " Nothing comes ahead of your people." I believe this makes Herb Kelleher a really good manager and leader because of the way he makes his employees count as part of the running of the company and that gives them the will to work and get satisfaction out of their job and knowing that they are helping the company to grow. He also makes them feel good job security and lets the employees be themselves and not someone they are not. .
The things that I believe that would make a successful manager is if the manager can identify a problem that has arisen or a reoccurring problem and use all his resources including employees to help solve the problem. They should be able to set out tasks to the employees and be open and help them if they are having difficulty in achieving their task without making them feel as though they can't do their job. According to (Mondy & Premeaux. Pg 5. 1993) Define management as "the process of getting things done through the efforts of other people.
