Herb Kelleher Quotes

36 quotes in 443 categories

• We have a strategic plan. It's called 'doing things'.
• I learned it by doing it, and I was scared to death.
• Think small and act small, and we'll get bigger. Think big and act big, and we'll get smaller.
• You have to treat your employees like your customers. When you treat them right they will treat your outside customers right.
• If the employees come first, then they're happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy so they keep coming back, which…
• You must be very patient, very persistent. The world isn't going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea. You're…
• One piece of advice that always stuck in my mind is that people should be respected and trusted as people, not because of their position…
• Power should be reserved for weightlifting and boats, and leadership really involves responsibility.
• It is my practice to try to understand how valuable something is by trying to imagine myself without it.
• I think my greatest moment in business was when the first Southwest airplane arrived after four years of litigation and I walked up to it…
• The business of business is people.
• To be an excellent leader, you have to be a superb follower,
• You don't hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.
• If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it.…
• Sometimes you need a little courage too just to buck popular opinion.
• The important thing is to take the bricklayer and make him understand that he’s building a home, not just laying bricks.
• Treat your employees like customers.
• We will hire someone with less experience, less education, and less expertise, than someone who has more of those things and has a rotten attitude.…
• The tragedy of our time is that we've got it backwards, we've learned to love techniques and use people.
• If the Wright brother were alive today Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.

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