Good Example Of Southwest CEO, Gary Kelly Essay

Introduction

It is the leader's responsibility in any organization to influence the employees toward achieving a goal and encourage them to follow. Gary Kelly’s able leadership at Southwest Airlines has helped in creating a positive workplace culture. In essence, Kelly promotes strong team coordination and open communication in the organization. As a result, Southwest Airlines has attained a high level of coordination between its employees. Gary Kelly's leadership style can be described as servant leadership. A servant leader empowers their followers and, as a result, fosters a pro-active, self-assured attitude among them (Van Dierendonck, 2011). Through his servant leadership, Southwest Airlines has succeeded in creating an environment, which gets the best out of its employees. He is a leader who considers his juniors as partners. In addition, he develops and empowers his employees and, as a result, the organization has succeeded in delivering greater employee productivity, fewer customer complaints, and fewer flight delays. The company has faced numerous challenges, but through Kelly’s servant leadership, it has been able to overcome those challenges.
Gary Kelly can also be described as a charismatic leader. He possesses some elements of a charismatic leader such as the social expressiveness, social sensitivity, and sensitivity to the needs of employees. As a charismatic leader, Gary Kelly has excellent communication skills that enable him engage the employees in social interaction. In addition, listen to his employees and is sensitive to their needs. He believes in having fun provided that the job is getting done and is completed safely. Gary is well intentioned towards the employees and, as a result, he has been able to elevate as well as transform Southwest Airlines. As a charismatic and servant leader, Gary has referent power. He has a vision for the company and the employees perceive him as a change agent. Through Gary’s servant and charismatic leadership, Southwest Airlines makes use of positive power to inspire its workforces in order to realize its goals. In fact, he motivates his staffs by giving them the power to make decisions and rewarding them for high performances.

References

Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228-1261.