Heroes of the Heart: Southwest Airlines Honor a Group who Provide Extraordinary Internal Customer Service Behind the Scene

This was the 18th year for Southwest Airlines to gather at 10:30 am to celebrate an event created in their Culture Committee called Heroes of the Heart. Everyone comes wearing red. Big heart-shaped cookies are served. A quartet from the Marketing Team performed love songs and the big moment arrived.

A suspense filled video described the valor under pressure and importance of the mystery team about to be honored …those who are in charge of the mail, shipping and receiving. A large banner was unfurled announcing the winners as Distribution Services. The crowd applauded and whistled as one by one, their names are called and each is honored with a model of the SWA Heroes of the Heart plane and two gold passes to fly anywhere on Southwest Airlines. A luncheon is held in their honor and their pictures are taken with the special Heroes of the Heart plane which will fly for this year in their department’s honor. It’s a memorable event, symbolizing the abundant heart each Employee brings to their job each day.

Our Partner, Carol Haddock, worked all day Friday with a team inflating hundreds of balloons to make impressive arches, tall columns and long garlands to cover the stair rails. This is one of many creative, fun and heartwarming occasions where Leaders at Southwest Airlines recognize and appreciate Employees.

If you wonder what servant leadership is all about, this event is a good example. It means finding many ways, large and small, to express appreciation, make work fun, and share the LUV. Colleen Barrett, (under whose leadership this day was created) just wrote a new book with Ken Blanchard called, Lead with LUV. If you want to learn more about how and why Southwest continues to be successful, buy a copy. It’s an inspiring read!

Homa's Mom's Birthday

Homa's Mom's Birthday

By Homa Lewis

In our work on servant leadership, we have been exploring the link between our “self talk”, the attitudes we create, and the resulting outcomes of our efforts. It is a tough assignment for work, but it can be a REALLY tall order for our family life.

Recently, we went down to Wimberley, Texas to celebrate my Mother’s 80th birthday. Prior to going, I began to think about some of the challenges we were facing—a mother who didn’t want a party of any kind, some family ties that were a little strained, and an extended car trip with a two-year old! What I realized was that I had a choice in my self talk—I could worry and fret about all the things that could go wrong, or I could choose to envision a great time by all. Here’s what happened…

“Oh, Man!” became the key phrase of the weekend we celebrated my mother’s 80th birthday. My two-and-a-half-year old granddaughter uses this phrase randomly and by the time the weekend was over, nine adults followed suit.

It was quite the gathering. From my now 80-year-old mother who was born at home to my granddaughter who whizzes through her apps on my iPad. In between were my brother and his wife, me, two granddaughters, two grandsons, one granddaughter-in-law and one serious girlfriend. The Georgia contingent was still digging out from the Atlanta blizzard so it was just the Texas branches. However, everyone who couldn’t make it to the Hill Country called. My mother talked with her sister, brother, nieces and nephews in addition to all of her friends who called or came by.

 Going into the weekend was a little stressful. My mother, who has a fully filled social calendar, didn’t want any kind of celebration-no party, no open house, no cocktail hour. This frustrated her grandkids who wanted a full-blown party. She finally agreed to dine out with the family and one friend. It wasn’t until my younger daughter and I were on the road to her home that she even told us what kind of cake she wanted.

Adding to the stress was the knowledge that some of the family ties were a little strained. Would we all be able to get along long enough to celebrate? This gave me an opportunity to practice assuming goodwill and creating a positive field of intention. All the way down, I imagined us all having a good time, surrounding my mother with all of the love she deserved.

And it worked. Helped along with the great-granddaughter’s phrases (she went up to my mother one time and told her she was “awesome”) and the surprise showing of home movies. The grandkids enjoyed seeing their parents as small kids as well as their grandparents as young parents. There was a lot of laughter as we pointed out resemblances, told stories and answered questions. My brother and I laughed at our own antics as well as the amount of time my dad spent filming airplanes, in whole or in parts (he loved the Blue Angels). My mother shared some new stories with all of us. By the time the night ended, we were a closer family. And I realized just how powerful the stories I tell myself in advance are to the outcome of what I experience. So now I have precious new gift ….and personal responsibility. Learning to assume good will can open hearts and minds, mine included!