Ethical Leadership at Southwest Airlines

[Name of the institute]Ethical Leadership at Southwest Airlines

Introduction

The domestic airline industry in the US declined by 72% in the late 1990's, and this happened mainly because of air fares charged to customers by the industry. However, it was even after the incident of September 9th when the airline industry began to decline. Some of the factors that contributed to the decline of the airline industry were lack of growth and intense competition from the other airlines. However, Southwest Airline with its management was able to run successfully despite these factors because of efficient leadership and successful business strategies. The company is run by Herb Kelleher who opted for servant leadership approach. His top priorities are the employees followed by the customers. He is a charismatic and transformational leader who has developed an employee oriented culture. However, Garry C. Kelly opts for behavioral theory of leadership and is a visionary and a democratic leader.

Discussion

This part of the paper discusses how ethical leadership can be observed in the management styles and various other aspects of the organization.

Ethical Leadership and Management Style of Southwest Airlines

The two leaders who run the company are Herb Kelleher and Garry C. Kelly. Both the leaders are born leaders and they have made the company successful by implementing the strategies that have worked well for the company. The leadership style that has been adopted by Herb Kelleher is charismatic and transformational leadership style and servant leadership. It is believed by him that employees should be kept motivated because they play a major role in keeping customers happy and if they are de-motivated, the customers will not be happy. Similarly, Garry C. Kelly has adopted behavioral theory of leadership and was a visionary and a democratic leader. He also believed in employee motivation as ...