BEYOND
IFCULTURE Nº 5
THE
BOTTOM
LINE
THE cORPORaTE cUlTURE fOR lONG TERM SUccESS ISSUE
BEYOND
THE BOTTOM LINE
THIS ISSUE
BEING GROUNDED
NOT a BaD PlacE TO BE fOR JETBlUE aIRlINES
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
Being Grounded:
4
A Good Place to be for JetBlue Airlines
Individual Change:
19
Is it Real? Can it Last? Why Does It Matter?
Photo far Left: Atomic Taco http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomictaco/4830145018/
Center: by Moto@Club4AG http://www.flickr.com/photos/moto_club4ag/4205501144/
Right: Photo by BobMacInnes http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonetown/421030141/
“ Bells and whistles ”
just wouldn’t be enough to ensure
lONG-TERM SUccESS
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BEING GROUNDED:
NOT a BaD PlacE TO BE fOR JETBlUE
David Neeleman founded JetBlue airways in 2000 with the vision of bringing humanity back
to air travel. His plan was to enter the low-cost (or “priced-right” if you’re speaking in JetBlue
parlance) air carrier arena-but with a few twists. JetBlue airplanes would include leather seats,
extra leg room, larger overhead bins, unlimited snacks and drinks, and live television at every seat.
These amenities would serve to attract customers looking for a better travel option, but Neeleman
knew that “bells and whistles” just wouldn’t be enough to ensure long-term success. consequently,
he turned his attention to establishing a leadership team and a corporate culture that would be
JetBlue’s competitive advantage.
a cUlTURE BUIlT aROUND valUES
ann Rhoades, the architect of JetBlue’s corporate culture and current board of director’s member,
joined the JetBlue leadership team as one of 10 original “crew members”. Neeleman and Rhoades
had worked together at Southwest airlines where Rhoades served as the vice President of the
People Department and established Southwest’s reputation for attracting and retaining the best
people. after leaving Southwest and before joining JetBlue, Rhoades held a similar post at the
Promus Hotel company (Doubletree Hotel, Homewood Suites, Embassy Suites, and Hampton Inn
brands), where she lived up to her reputation for establishing strong, service-oriented cultures built
around fun. Rhoades signed on with JetBlue to share the wealth — the cultural kind.
Photo by BobMacInnes http://www.flickr.com/photos/lonetown/421030141/
5
BUSINESS 101:
DOING THE RIGHT THINGS
Photo below: striatic http://www.flickr.
com/photos/striatic/460419825/
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“Why did I do it all over again?” Rhoades responded when asked about joining JetBlue. “It’s just
fun! To me, it’s very basic. I don’t know why companies can’t see that if you focus on values and
people, then the rest will fall into place.”
JetBlue created a value-based model for their leadership and crew members that was built around
past behaviors. Throughout her career in HR, Rhoades had recognized that behaviors were
pretty consistent, and that they typically don’t change. So the model identified the behaviors and
characteristics that the leadership team of JetBlue all wanted in their colleagues and that would be
essential to getting the airline off the ground. and these behaviors were nonnegotiable: honesty
and humility. “leadership drives the values and those values drive behavior,” Rhoades commented.
“Behaviors then define the culture, which, in turn, determine performance.”
Knowing that Neeleman and the other founders mirrored her own values, she was confident, based
on past behaviors, that the leadership team would follow Business 101: doing the right things.
and not just in a business sense. They would put these values ahead of all else and recognize
the importance of people at all levels of the organization. To that end, JetBlue established early
on that all employees would be known as “crew members,” a title in the airline industry that was
previously reserved for only pilots and flight attendants. But this unique branding was part of a
new inclusive model that exemplified the humble attitude of the upstart airline and its founders.
With a like-minded and value-driven leadership team in place, JetBlue established a corporate
culture ruled by five values: safety, caring, integrity, fun and passion — simply defined as a
“culture of incredible service”.
THE GROWTH Of a PHIlOSOPHy
Rhoades started her HR career in banking where she learned early on that honesty and humility
were traits necessary for all employees-and especially for a company’s leadership. In fact, she
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value -Driven
LEADERSHIP
Photo: WaveBreaker http://www.flickr.com/photos/14687859@N00/162551624/
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“THE IMPORTaNcE Of HavING
a STRONG cORPORaTE cUlTURE
and the impact it has on an organization’s success
has been bandied about for years.”
believed so strongly in these attributes that she risked her job as vice President of Human Resources
at first Interstate Bank to stand by her convictions. Rhoades discussed the risk and the reward of
her decision. “I was working under a boss that was not honest with or respectful of others,” she
explained. “I had witnessed first hand his willingness to do whatever it took to be successful
regardless of the truth, and it made me uncomfortable.” although it was early in her career,
Rhoades felt that work and happiness did not have to be mutually exclusive. and knowing she
could not work in this environment and be happy, Rhoades decided to take a stand. When she
and four of her peers were given the opportunity to meet with corporate and discuss the issues
surrounding their immediate supervisor, she was the only one that was forthcoming.
“I knew this was not the type of person I wanted to work with. and I knew that I was probably
risking my job, but it was better than compromising my integrity and being unhappy.”
as it goes, corporate had already been aware of the problems with her supervisor, and they had
only interviewed Rhoades and her colleagues to gain independent confirmation. While the others
took the safe road and disclosed only what they thought management wanted to hear, Rhoades
went out on limb. Her reward was a new boss that would serve as her mentor for the next 20 years.
The story had a happy ending for Rhoades, and it affirmed for her that in order to be successful,
“doing the right thing” could not only be a cliché. It had to be the foundation of her career.
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PRacTIcING WHaT yOU PREacH
The value-driven leadership philosophy at JetBlue was put to the test early during the recruitment
and eventual hiring of one of their first crew members. Rhoades recounts the story of a young
aircraft mechanic that while working for a competing airline refused to sign off on an aircraft
release because of a safety issue. and because of his refusal, his employment was terminated.
Unlike Rhoades and her scenario at the bank, the mechanic was married with two children, his
decision “to do the right thing” would impact his entire family. Rhoades understood the risk that the
employee had taken with his job, and she recalled thinking that hiring him to work for JetBlue was
a no-brainer.
“I firmly believe that you have to be willing to sacrifice your job in order to do the right thing,”
reflected Rhoades. “This was the type of crew member that we needed to have.”
lEaDING By EXaMPlE
current JetBlue chief Executive Officer (cEO), David Barger, was one of the original members
of the JetBlue leadership team, and he has today the same humility he brought to the table a
decade ago.
“Our cEO is evaluated by the board, and he is rated based on both employee and customer
feedback. David [Barger] is humble and recognizes the need for accountability,” Rhoades explained.
Barger’s insistence on being just another crew member has endeared him to the JetBlue team. It is
not unheard of, and in fact, very common practice for Barger to engage crew members at all levels
of the organization in conversations about their spouses, children and just life in general. On the
surface it doesn’t seem that special until you realize that Barger actually knows the crew members
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cEO JEff BaRGER
SHaRES BOTH cREW aND cUSTOMER cONcERNS
“HE IS ACTUALLY LISTENING...”
and their spouses and children by name. Being a crew member at JetBlue requires something more
than just knowing names and faces. It requires a true commitment to being a team player and “to
doing the right thing”. No where is this more evident that at the end of a JetBlue flight. Employees
that travel the airline, whether for business or pleasure, are expected to help clean the plane
before exiting. and, yes, Barger also cleans. He has even been known to work the food service
when he travels.
JetBlue is currently celebrating their 10-year anniversary and as part of that celebration, Barger
is traveling to all Blue cities (JetBlue destinations) and Support centers to thank crew members
and to get customer feedback. If Barger is on your flight, he will introduce himself and ask for
feedback. and he is actually listening. In JetBlue’s august 2010 internal communication to crew
members, Jet to the Point, Barger passed along both crew member and customer concerns. The
following is an excerpt from “Jet to the Point”:
Last week, I visited our BUR, LAX, LGB and SAN teams as part of my Southern California
tour, and saw again first-hand how the decisions we made 10 years ago about the kind of
company we wanted to create have come to fruition. En route from JFK-BUR, it was great
to spend time with our Crew members and Customers and learn what’s working and, quite
frankly, what isn’t working so well. Overall, I’d state that the health of our company is solid
based on feedback and observations on this six hour flight.
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“Mistakes are going to
happen, but it is owning
up to them and correcting
them that’s important.”
Photo by WaveBreaker http://www.flickr.com/photos/14687859@N00/162551624/
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I was also very impressed with our attention to detail and living the Safety value during
this flight. From the clean and professional tarmac at JFK (and departure from the newly
refurbished Bay Runway) to the arrival into the congested LA airspace and arrival into BUR,
I was really pleased with what I observed en route coast to coast.
Still, it’s great to receive input like I did from the Customer in seat 10F who stated that
he really likes to fly JetBlue, but that he didn’t feel good about purchasing an Even More
Legroom seat for $60 each way, only to find out that the seat doesn’t recline. We all know
that EML is about legroom, but the entire experience is just as important, especially to
those high-yield Customers who are willing to give us more to get a little more. I’ll let you
know how the Commercial Team will better set Customer expectations around this item in
a future Jet to the Point.
Likewise, our Flight and In-flight Crew members on my flight shared with me that staffing
seems tight this summer (or that we overscheduled the airline) based on how difficult it
is to get Personal Time Off (PTO) – even if one is senior – and how often Crew Services
is distributing requests to support the operation. This is difficult to hear as this is such a
critical time of year for our financial performance and it’s also a repeat item. We have to
find a way to maximize flying without running too hot, while also maximizing our revenue
opportunities. Caring for one another is always important; it’s just a little more visible when
the pace of the operation is busier than at other times of the year.
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as evidenced by Barger’s trip and the open communication
with crew members and customers, the JetBlue leadership
team continues to work within their value system. This
approach helped the airline manage the now infamous
2007 valentine’s Day tarmac delays at New york’s John f.
Kennedy International airport. Within days after hundreds of
passengers were stranded on JetBlue planes for over ten hours
because of an ice storm, the airline introduced a customer
Bill of Rights-retroactive to the february 14 incident that
addressed customer satisfaction issues with free or reduced
flights, and in some cases, cash incentives to customers.
Rhoades did not shy away from the 2007 incident, and in fact, brought it up and used it as an
example of how important leadership and the resulting culture can be to incident management.
“Mistakes are going to happen, but it is owning up to them and correcting them that’s important,”
Rhoades commented. “We have leaders that are willing to be accountable, and those leaders
drive value.”
MaINTaINING a cUlTURal aDvaNTaGE
The leadership at JetBlue understood the importance of their cultural edge to their business, and
they knew it was essential to maintain that edge. coupled with the volatile nature of the airline
industry (increased competition, fuel costs, and changes in leadership), a cultural checkup was in
order for the System Operations center (SOc). Since the SOc was the hub of all things JetBlue
(Maintenance control, System control, crew Services, Dispatch, and BlueWatch security), the goal
was to ensure that they stayed at the forefront of any cultural shifts while providing coaching and
support for the seamless implementation of any needed changes identified during the checkup.
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“I believe strongly in coaching, and that great leaders will embrace a coach,” Rhoades commented.
“We have to be willing to admit that we do not know everything, or we would grow stagnant.”
To meet this challenge, Denison consulting cofounder, William Neale, who had previously
developed the coaching process for JetBlue’s leadership team, was brought in to perform an
“organizational MRI” on the airline using their diagnostic model. Neale described the concept
as “thinking the link,” which answers some key questions: Where is the company going? Do you
understand your customers? are employees engaged and committed? can you execute? like in
the medical profession, this diagnostic approach served to identify existing or potential issues
in the relationship between JetBlue’s culture and their bottom line, resulting in the prescribing of
preventive maintenance or corrective action plans to be implemented within the SOc.
THINKING THE lINK
The importance of having a strong corporate culture and the impact it has on an organization’s
success has been bandied about for years. for the most part, the discussion was fueled by a lack
of understanding of the topic Simply put: What is culture? Does it matter? How does it pertain to
the success of your business?
In 1998, Neale and Daniel Denison, PhD, opened the doors of
Denison consulting to answer these questions. With a mission
“to improve the performance of organizations by improving
their corporate culture and leadership,” they have to date
addressed the topic of corporate culture and performance
with over 5,000 public and private clients. Their focus on the
Photo by Brian Hillegas
www.flickr.com/photos/seatbelt67/502255276/
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impact of corporate culture and leadership to an organization’s bottom line has shed some light
on the previously unanswered questions surrounding the concept. Neale outlined the evolution of
the corporate culture discussion, and its progression to where we are today. He painted a picture
of an esoteric subject that few understood; one that has evolved through several phases, including
research, books, quotes, diagnostic tools, and finally, practical applications to the business model.
“There were organizational theorists and researchers who started building the early case
for organizational culture as a legitimate business issue,” Neale wrote. “The challenge
was translating theory and research into practical business applications.”
The momentum began to grow with the publication of Peters and Waterman’s “In Search of
Excellence”, which put culture on the map. and building on this momentum, Jack Welch, former
chief Executive Officer of General Electric, made it acceptable for business executives to talk
about culture. Diagnostic tools began to emerge as part of this “cultural evolution” in an effort to
help companies gain a better understanding of the subject matter along with its uses in business.
Photo by diongillard http://www.flickr.com/photos/
diongillard/277099556
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Denison’s entry into the cultural conversation focused on the impact of culture on business metrics.
and together with Neale in the early 1990s, they developed the Denison Model. Denison’s research
was translated into a diagnostic model to measure an organization’s culture in four areas:
1. Identifying its strengths and weaknesses
(the what)
2. Identifying the impact on performance
(the so what)
3. Identifying areas to leverage for the best business
performance (the now what)
4. Translating the information into practical business
applications (utilizing the data)
Neale explained the importance of the Denison Model:
“Dan Denison’s research came along in the mid1980s, and he is credited with research that showed
a statistically significant relationship of organizational
culture to bottom-line business metrics such as sales growth, market share, quality, employee satisfaction,
innovation, and profitability/ROE/ROI.”
JetBlue’s proactive approach to building and maintaining their corporate culture is a testament
to their current success. Some may call it luck. Others may say it’s just good old hard work. But
something is definitely tipping the scales to the good side at JetBlue. Presently, crew members
have chosen to forgo unionization despite several attempts by outside organizers, which is a
strong indicator of satisfaction. and as of the second quarter of the 2010 fiscal year, the airline
remains profitable, reporting their highest quarterly operating income to date. “JetBlue’s culture is
their competitive advantage,” Neale explained. “Our [Denison] role is maintaining their cultural
advantage.”
IT aPPEaRS THERE IS valUE IN HavING valUES.
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IT’S TIME TO CHA
T H E C O N V E R S AT NGE
ION
lE v E R a G IN G TH E
M U L T I P L E G E N E RP OW E R O f
AT I O N S .
FOR INFOR M ATI
PROGRAM TO YOURON ABOUT BRINGING THIS
WORKPL ACE CALL
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INDIvIDUal cHaNGE: IS IT REal?
caN IT laST? WHy DOES IT MaTTER?
Throughout a lifetime there is a good chance that the adage “the more things change, the more they
stay the same” will seem applicable. The essence of this philosophy only serves to more deeply root
individuals into their existing comfort zones-essentially stifling change. Egos play an important role in
bringing about or hindering change and, as a result, we often miss out on the wealth of knowledge
and best intentions of people. But can change really happen, or is it an illusion?
“I think change is real if we are talking about dropping our less effective behaviors,” commented
Betsey Upchurch, a principal at Bristlecone learning. “There is no reason to change who people
are at the core, we are fine just as we are. But, there is often a need to change outdated beliefs,
assumptions and behaviors that don’t get us the results we want.”
When people are “doing” instead of just talking, they are forced to make choices about their
behaviors. and when the results of repeating old behaviors yield the same unwanted results, there
can be an epiphany by some to make better choices, resulting in change.
But is change sustainable? The short answer is both-yes and no. Because human beings are creatures
of habit, just discovering what is ineffective won’t create lasting change without working to form
new habits. “Bristlecone can work with leaders in an organization and they can establish plans for
change,” Upchurch commented. “But without a conscious effort, they can find themselves right back
to the same old routine.”
Most experts agree that it can take three to six months to form a new habit, which can only be
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done through effort and attention. Many organizations underestimate the amount of effort it takes
to form new, more effective habits, so they do not put enough time and effort into the changes they
want to make both individually and collectively. consequently, many training and change efforts fail
because consistent follow up is not built in to the program. coaching, learning groups, webinars,
performance reviews, Individual Development Plans and further training are all ways to create some
consistency of effort, allowing change to take root.
Why does it matter? George land theorized in “Grow or Die: The Unifying Principle of Transformation,”
that growth is fundamental to all things at all levels. as individuals, if we continue with ineffective
behaviors, then we are destined for failure- both personally and professionally. as for organizations
or companies, without growth, they yield to the competition. and as a society, we either find ways
to coexist as individuals while together sustaining the planet Earth, or we lose it all.
DOES cHaNGE MaTTER?
you bet it does.
www.Bristleconelearning.com
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DOG TRaINING, lEaDERSHIP
and THE BUDDaH
BRISTLECONE LEARNING ENTERS THE BLOGOSPHERE
ask anyone who has worked with the staff or Principals of Bristlecone learning and you’ll discover
something; none of us are without opinions. The barrier to Blogging for us wasn’t a lack of things
to say, but rather a commitment to say them frequently enough to keep our Blog relevant and value
added for the reader. We have a schedule of who writes on the blog and when. We have an
editorial process (limited though it may be) to insure quality, and we have a nice, tidy looking blog
space with most of the bells and whistles. Take a look, join the Provokalogue.
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