Nuts!

Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success tells the story of the creation and development of Southwest Airlines and CEO Herb Kelleher. The remarkable story of Southwest starts with a diagram on a cocktail napkin. The triangle has as it's points Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. And thus began a company trying to break into the big leagues as the lowest price, by far, competitor. But their greatest contribution for the greater good may be to open up air travel to the masses.

"What Southwest has done is create democracy in the airline business." Roy Spence, President of advertising agency GSD&M.

The airline began on June 18, 1971 with 6 roundtrips between Dallas and San Antonio and 12 between Dallas and Houston International.

Some Leadership principles and quotes gleaned from Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success:

"The warrior mentality, the very fight to survive is truly what created our culture."

"We treated our job like it was our own business."

"Owners think differently from nonowners because ownership is a state of mind."

"A vision must be so strong that it can outweigh the egos of managers that might want to take off in a different direction."

"Fun is about attitude, so Southwest hires for attitude and trains for skill."

"We'll train you on whatever it is you have to do, but the one thing Southwest cannot change in people is inherent attitudes."

"Southwest's people go out of their way to make sure employees have access to the information they need."

"Adaptiveness is an individual's or a company's capacity to change when forces in the environment threaten the accomplishment of it's goals."

"People will automatically assume ownership for protecting the right to be engaged in work that gives them a sense of meaning and significance. Why? Because there's a tremendous amount of spiritual, emotional and psychic gratification that comes from meaningful work."

"People who are curious listen more attentively, ask more questions, and display a genuine interest in what others know."

"People learn more easily and retain information longer when the lesson is housed in a story, illustration, or metaphor."

"Kelleher and Barrett believe that culture is one of the most precious things a company has, so you must work harder at it than anything else."

"Celebrate everything."

"When you're having fun at work, it doesn't feel like work at all; it's better than tolerable, it's enjoyable."

"Leadership is getting people to want to do what you want them to do because they share your purpose, vision, and values."

By the way, the book is called "Nuts!" because Southwest was the first airline to serve only peanuts instead of full course meals in an effort to keep costs low.