Holstein, William J.). \"At Southwest,

¶ … Holstein, William J.). "At Southwest, the Culture Drives Success." BusinessWeek.

According to the former CEO of Southwest Airlines James Parker, leadership is not a skill that can be taught in a single course. Rather, leadership training must be integrated throughout the entire organization and the value of leadership must be continually reinforced, for all employees. The first step of a good leadership training program is finding the right people. Hire for attitude, not for skill, he counsels. This may sound like a strange motto for an airline, but while he contends that individuals must have the necessary background to do their job (like being able to fly a plane) it is also essential in a service-based company that they be 'other-oriented.' In short, the first step of finding good leaders is to know the needs and mission of the organization holistically, rather than seeking to fill a particular position. Interviews, as opposed to mere resume-screening, were a critical part of the interview process at Southwest.

After finding the right people, the organization needs to create an environment where leadership talents and attributes can flourish. Employees need to feel as if they are part of a world where their creativity, intelligence, humor, and individuality is important, in service of the company's mission. Having a common mission and culture is essential -- so that every level of the organization will be united, and managers and other top personnel are not isolated. This is why all Southwest employees were subject to the same orientation. This also taught future managers about the people and jobs their policies would affect. Parker is proud that during his time at Southwest, CEOs would be seen having lunch in the cafeteria with 'regular people.' Top managers were required to routinely visit sites where people were actually working. Managers had a sense of how what they did in the boardroom affected operations as well as the bottom line on paper.

Leaders must exist on every level for an organization to thrive, says Parker. "Frontline leadership, which is in many ways the most important level of leadership, is the area where a lot of companies fall apart. When they think about leadership training, what they're usually thinking about are executives who might be a vice-president or CEO someday. They don't put as much effort into training those frontline leaders, which is where a company most directly touches its customers and its employees" (Holstein 2007, p.2).