Southwest: Ours to Own

I suspect that most of you are aware of the challenges facing Southwest Airlines these days. If not, a couple targeted Google searches will remedy that. Still, I’m not that interested in unpacking all the causes or pointing fingers at perceived enemies. Instead, I’d like to offer two concepts that have been a great source of breakthrough and freedom for me:

1.?A bias for responsibility.

As one of my top CliftonStrengths , responsibility has been both a blessing and a curse. For example, I am a decidedly “on-time” person. Which is good. I can also get quite judgmental about “late people." Which is less good. In fact, it’s folly. To quote Taylor Swift, “laters gonna late, late, late, late.”

In Mark Manson's book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, he brilliantly distinguishes the difference between responsibility and fault. Not everything is my fault, but I can choose to live as if everything is my responsibility. This is a powerful perspective that I’ve been cultivating for years. I’m not saying that I am never at fault. It happens regularly; then I choose to stay out of shame so I can be freed up to offer any amends or repair needed. Yet, even if it’s not my fault, I can still be responsible.

I see this as a powerful stance for Southwest Airlines . I’m grateful for the leadership of Bob Jordan and his embodiment of this principle. Our current rally cry is not, “Ours to Defend.” We are not pulling together to ostensibly proclaim, “Get off my lawn!” Instead, our rally cry points the finger at ourselves – the one thing we can control. This isn’t about blame. This is about responsibility. OURS to own.

2. Focus on excellence.

This one is harder for me. If your brain is anything like mine, I can easily get distracted. I’m not saying I’m like the dogs in Pixar’s UP (e.g. “squirrel!”). I mean, I definitely AM like that, but that’s not what I’m referring to here. I’m talking about the kind of distraction that is produced by fear and insecurity. This happens when we tell ourselves certain stories:

• I can't handle this.
• I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
• The universe is against me.
• Leadership can’t be trusted.
• I have to look out only for myself.

Personally, I don’t hold any judgement of these stories. I suspect they occur to everyone from time to time. We live in a world wrought with uncertainty and discomfort. Though many of us wish we lived in a world sans the un- and the dis-, I strive to cultivate a different perspective – one that embraces uncertainty and discomfort. Why? Well, because it’s true. And I’ve heard it said, “Reality will let you down the least.”

From this position of clarity, we not only accept reality on reality’s terms, but we also empower ourselves to live and act with trust and agency. We eliminate the distraction of what other people might or might not be doing, and we free ourselves up to put our best efforts into the most important tasks. And in my opinion, Southwest leadership is wise to focus our attention on excellence.

I’m a huge fan of Fr. Richard Rorh and the Center for Action and Contemplation , and one of my favorite quotes they are known for is this: “the best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.” That quote is just…perfect. We have a good plan. And I trust that we will not only execute it, we will do so with excellence.

Before I came to Southwest over a year ago, I wondered whether our celebrated culture was the real deal. I'm a skeptical person who isn't typically moved by hype or interested in drinking any flavor of Kool-aid. Now that I've been here for a bit, I am happy to admit that this place has passed the sniff test. I have had the honor to facilitate leadership courses that often dive deeply into our Values and Culture. I have marveled at the passion and consistency these Leaders have exhibited. Bottom line: We know who we are. We know what we value. And we know where we can improve.

Yes, outside voices have different opinions. Of course, they do. The reason: they have no clue who we are or what we value. It makes sense that they would come to wildly different conclusions on what improvement should look like. To quote Bob, these criticisms are "inane" - a fancy way of saying "stupid."

So let’s do this thing, Southwest! All eyes forward. May we ignore the noise and lean into Responsibility and Excellence. This beautiful place is Ours to Own!