Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 Stumbling into the Business World . . . 5
Chapter 2 9/11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 3 The Question Was Answered… . . . . . 17
Chapter 4 …But I Don’t Want to Be a Corporate Bureaucrat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter 5 Getting Off the Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Chapter 6 The Ten-Minute Turnaround . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 7 The Great Texas Whiskey War . . . . . . 47
Chapter 8 I Just Couldn’t Resist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 9 Some of the Obvious Things I Learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 10 We’re in What Kind of Business? . . . 65
Chapter 11 With a Little Help from Our Competitors… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Chapter 12 Leaders Are Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 13 Great Organizations Have Great Leaders at Every Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 14 In Case You Didn’t Get It… Great Organizations Have Great Leaders at Every Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 15 Great Leaders Make the People Around Them Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Chapter 16 People Recognize a Phony . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 17 People Follow a Leader They Trust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Chapter 18 Who Wants the “Best” People? . . . . 105
Chapter 19 Looking for the Right People . . . . . . 109
Chapter 20 Interview for Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Chapter 21 Attitudes Also Matter at 30,000 Feet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Chapter 22 Everybody Remembers Their Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 23 Every Job Affects Others . . . . . . . . . . 131
Chapter 24 People Need to Understand Their Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Chapter 25 Shared Goals, Shared Knowledge, and Mutual Respect = A Shared Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Chapter 26 Do People Think Like Employees or Owners? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Chapter 27 Making Employees Owners . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 28 A Sense of Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Chapter 29 Make Work Fun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 30 Build a Customer Service Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Chapter 31 Everything He Did Was So I Could Come to Work… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Chapter 32 Fun Can Have a Purpose . . . . . . . . . . 181
Chapter 33 Celebrate Success and Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Chapter 34 Creating Entrepreneurs . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Chapter 35 Encourage Unconventional Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Chapter 36 Suggestion Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Chapter 37 Many Roads Lead to the Promised Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Chapter 38 Define the Right Goals and Give People Room to Succeed . . . . . . . . . . 215
Chapter 39 The Two-Minute Drill . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Chapter 40 Give People Something to Believe In--Define a Grand Mission . . . . . . . 225
Chapter 41 Create a Culture in Which People Want to Do the Right Things . . . . . . 229
Chapter 42 It’s a Family Affair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Chapter 43 The Tactics of Success May Vary, but the Principles Are Constant . . . . 239
Chapter 44 Be Yourself and Have Some Fun . . . 247
Chapter 45 It’s a Round World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
People matter most. You know that. But most companies would rather slash costs, cut headcount, replace well-paid employees with lower-paid employees or outsourced workers, and reduce customer service. No wonder so many fail and how others focused on doing the right thing can remain profitable and growth oriented for decades. James Parker shows why "doing the right thing" isn't just naive "feel-goodism": it's the most powerful rule for business success. Parker's stories won't just convince you: they'll move you. He tells how, after 9/11, Southwest made three pivotal decisions: no layoffs, no pay cuts, and "no-penalty, no-questions-asked refunds" for any customer wanting them. The result: Southwest's revenue passenger miles for 4Q01 dropped by only 0.5%, and its market cap soon exceeded all its major competitors combined. These pivotal decisions grew naturally from its culture of mutual respect and trust: Parker reveals how that culture developed, offering deeply personal insights into the principles that can make any team, organization or company strong. You'll discover how great leaders are found at every level, "hire for attitude and train for skills," achieve unparalleled teamwork, and actually make work fun. Powerful and inspirational, Do the Right Thing proves that if you want to build a great business, people really do matter most.
James F. Parker served as CEO and vice chairman of the board of Southwest Airlines from June 2001 through July 2004, three of the airline industry’s most challenging years. During Parker’s tenure as CEO, Southwest Airlines was named one of America’s three most admired companies, one of America’s 100 best corporate citizens, one of the world’s most socially responsible companies, and worldwide airline of the year. Parker’s proudest accomplishment, however, comes from the fact that Southwest was the only major airline to protect the jobs of all its employees, while also remaining profitable after 9/11. He is a member of the MIT Leadership Center Advisory Council at the MIT Sloan School of Management. A lawyer by trade, he spent fifteen years as General Counsel of Southwest Airlines before being selected to lead the company. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Texas Roadhouse, Inc.
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