Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders
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Colleen Barrett |
Colleen Barrett may not be a lawyer, but as she explained to a room full of 300 attorneys at the Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, “I sure feel like one.” That’s because she has maintained a close proximity to lawyers almost all her life, and she jokes that she has been practicing law without a certificate for years.
No doubt Barrett, Southwest Airlines’ President, has taken the road less traveled. From her humble roots in Vermont to becoming one of the World’s Most Powerful Women (Forbes.com 2004, 2005), Barrett explained that her path began with a clear mission, “to become the best legal secretary around.”
Barrett’s David vs. Goliath’s tale is eerily similar to that of the Company she helped propel to become one of the most successful airlines in the world. Starting out as Southwest co-founder Herb Kelleher’s legal secretary, Barrett has seen (and helped!) Southwest Airlines grow literally from the ground up.
Barrett explained how the airline encountered round after round of legal battles before being granted the “Freedom to Fly.” Ironically, she attributes those early battles to the Company’s long-standing success.
“If they (the other airlines) would have just left us alone, we would never have made it,” Barrett quips.
And thus, a cause was born. A cause that Barrett says started with Herb’s desire to overcome unprecedented odds to beat the “Big Guys” and is still alive and well today in the hearts of the Company’s 31,000 plus Employees.
Barrett recounted how the quirky airline was FUN and irreverent and garnished unheralded attention that it couldn’t otherwise buy in the early days. While she pointed to the airline’s business model of being a low-cost, low-fare airline with high frequency as a successful formula, she emphasized that Southwest is, and always has been, a Company of People.
It is the People of Southwest Airlines, according to Barrett, that form a unique bond with its Customers. It’s the People of Southwest Airlines that promote a Culture of Family and friendship. And it is the People of Southwest Airlines that are entrusted to do the right thing, apply common sense, and live by The Golden Rule.
After all, Barrett proclaims, “If we could teach common sense, we’d all be rich!”
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