As the son of an airline pilot, I have always been interested in aviation. The Southwest’s early existence was not easy, spending many of its formative years in lawsuits. “Nuts” delves into the incredible culture of Southwest throughout the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s and explores the management and leadership styles used. The two authors were given exclusive access within the company and did hundreds of interviews to create this case study.
Culture Culture Culture!
What other company do you know of that hired cheerleaders and dressed them in miniskirts. Name another corporation that had their CEO arm wrestle to settle a lawsuit.
The book definitely worth the read and is filled with tremendous leadership and management insights. Southwest’s old culture reminds me of Zappos. However, I found it ironic the “Nuts” spent a fair amount of time discussing how the culture would not change once Herb Kelleher left the company. Today only trace amounts of Southwest’s once famous culture can be seen within the corporation.
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