Do the Right Thing: How Dedicated Employees Create Loyal Customers and Large Profits

Training & Development, Apr 2008 by Nancherla, Aparna

Do the Right Thing: How Dedicated Employees Create Loyal Customers and Large Profits By James F. Parker (Wharton School Publishing, 288 pp., $22.991

James F. Parker served as CEO and chairman of Southwest Airlines from June 2001 through July 2004-one of the most tumultuous periods for the airline industry. During Parker's tenure, one of Southwest's greatest accomplishments was being the only major airline to protect the jobs of all its employees while still remaining profitable after 9 /11. In so doing, Southwest became a model American success story.

In Do the Right Thing, Parker outlines how superior customer service and profits can be achieved by sticking to employees-first values. The book discusses the corporate culture of Southwest, which is built on a sturdy foundation of frontline employees with initiative. Using examples from World War II as well as sports, Parker explains the inherent benefits of a nonhierarchical structure.

Sprinkled throughout the book are a bevy of personal stories involving handing out peanuts to passengers on flights; how Southwest listened to a single employee's idea for ticketless travel in 1993; how a job candidate's neglected breast pump attracted a bomb squad, but also got her hired; and how a free bottle of whiskey helped win a price war with a competitor. Parker's story indicates that great leaders don't just oversee companies, they also constitute them.

Aparna Nancherla