Southwest Airlines Puts Employees First

All of us have jobs that we have to wake up for each day.  Do you like this job?  Is it a good place to work with a fun environment?  For one company, a CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE has been built upon doing things a little different than the norm.

Most of us have flown before and have had the unfortunate experience of shutting off our portable electronic devices and listen to an unhappy flight attendance go over passenger information for the millionth time.  But, if you've ever flown on a Southwest flight, you may have had a slightly different encounter with a - dare I say - happy employee ...

“No smoking is allowed, not even in the toilets. Don’t be naughty in our potty. If you do there is a $2,000 fine, and if you had that kind of money you’d be flying United instead of Southwest.”

 “Your seat cushions can be used for flotation. In the event of an emergency water landing please take them with our compliments.”

 “We are pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately none of them are on this flight.”

"Although we never anticipate a change in cabin pressure... because if we did, we wouldn't have come to work today.... If you're traveling with a small child, what were you thinking? Put your mask on first and then help them with theirs. If you are traveling with multiple young children, assist the one with the most potential first and then work your way down."

Everyone Communicates; Few Connect

When I read John Maxwell's book “Everyone Communicates; Few Connect”, it was a jolt of lightning in my thinking.  How many of us send memos, emails, texts, facebook messages and tweets but don’t really go beyond the surface?

My brother and I can chat for 30 minutes on the phone and when I hang up, I can’t answer any questions from my wife about my brother’s family or what’s really going on in his life.  But, boy can I tell you his opinion on Michigan football or the Detroit Tigers.   

As coaches, salespeople, teachers or executives, how often do we talk and make our pitch but don’t listen or understand what others want?  I guess there is a reason God gave us two ears and one mouth.  We are constantly communicating but are we really connecting?  Are we really developing a true relationship with others?  

Ask questions.  Be interested in the other person and what they have got to say.  Understand their point of view. If we want to truly be people of influence, then we must learn to make connections with others.  

 Jamy Bechler is a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, speaker and trainer.  You can contact him at Jamy@CoachBechler.com.  You can also subscribe to his leadership newsletter by clicking here.

Change is inevitable; Growth is optional

The world is always changing.  We are always learning more and more.  Technology is ever-changing.  Athletes are getting bigger, faster, stronger.  John Maxwell says that change is inevitable but growth is optional.  

My wife and I have lived in 8 places during our marriage.  We have seen different cultures, perspectives and belief systems.  Ironically, we have found that one thing has remained the same through the years…the world is in a constant state of change.  

Your ability to adapt to situations can lead to a higher level of success.  As a coach, I was faced with hundreds of decisions each game.  Some of them I was prepared for but many of them I was not.  I had to be ready to change course if need be.  That is life.

The Encouraging Leader

Five years ago I was inspired by Mike Neighbors, an assistant coach at Xavier University, to begin a newsletter on leadership entitled THE ENCOURAGING LEADER.  Neighbors was doing a newsletter for basketball coaches and I really enjoyed it.  My entire life as a coach, I studied leadership and felt that I could add value to others with the insights that I had learned.  It started as a monthly newsletter but has since become a quarterly publication.  We have had some great leaders that have contributed over the years and I am so grateful for their generosity and willingness to write articles. For three years, I worked on the newsletter consistently but then in May of 2014 I took a new job.  I left a good college coaching job to become the athletic director at a traditional high school powerhouse in Indiana. It was a very grueling job and I put the newsletter on hold.  I kept coming up with reasons why I couldn't publish another issue.  The main one was "I am too busy".   However, what is in the middle of all excuses?  "U".  It wasn't the job that kept me from publishing more issues, it was me.  I was constantly making choices to push it further down my priority list. 

It takes time to put a newsletter together but every time that I put one together, it made me sharp and helped me learn more about leadership from many different perspectives.  Essentially by choosing to not publish the newsletter, I was taking away an opportunity for me to learn.  Just like Coach Neighbors newsletter, no doubt, keeps him sharp, at the same time helping others.  He is now the head coach at the University of Washington and they advanced to the NCAA Final Four this season.  He is a head coach in the Pac-12 and yet still religiously puts out his newsletter.  How inspiring is that?  That is one of the reasons that I decided to start being an encouraging leader again through the newsletter.  Click here to read the latest edition of The Encouraging Leader.  

Jamy Bechler is the executive director of U-Leadership and a John Maxwell Certified Leadership Speaker and Coach.  Contact him at CoachBechler@CoachBechler.com to find out how you or your team can be more successful.