South West Airlines over the years has become renowned as an iconic Airlines in the United States of America.

The chairman of SWA , Herb Kelleher built the company’s culture around employee benefits , respect to employees which was a key aspect that helped SWA outperform competitors.

As a leader Herb Kelleher exhibited “Productive Paranoia” , always vigilant about the external operating business conditions to help SWA stay afloat.

Once such strategy was to maintain a conservative balance sheet and surplus cash balance without being too greedy for growth.

What this did was that it helped SWA continue with its 20 Mile march and reap profits even during rough times for e.g post 9/11 , SWA was the only Airlines who did not fire people and who registered profits when its competition was falling apart.

Adopted from Jim Collins’s book titled “Great By Choice”