Southwest The Magazine - November 2014 - (Page 30)
Feedback
Dear Editor,
I want to thank you for helping me
be a better leader. As a regional sales
ARISTOTLE'S
BOOK OF
manager for Sears Optical, I have
LOVE
T
shared many of your articles with
colleagues and top executives in our
company. Besides the outstanding customer service and
gracious associates, Southwest: The Magazine is another
reason I choose to fly Southwest. Your articles are so very
inspiring. The September issue piece "Aristotle's Book
of Love" was no different. I lead the No. 1 territory in our
company, and my leadership style was strengthened
by applying the principles of Caring, Craft, and Cause.
Thank you again, Southwest.
Want people to follow
you anywhere? Learn
from the man who taught
Alexander the Great.
any occupying force will tell you,
this took some persuading.)
In short, Alexander captured
nations-and hearts. The love
part came straight from Aristotle.
We know all this because the
notes can be found in a book called
Rhetoric. I like to call it the Book
of Love.
The book teaches that the most
powerful tool of persuasion is the
leader's public ethos, or image. If
people love you, they'll follow you
anywhere. Aristotle taught that
a compelling character is more
persuasive than perfect logic.
Mind you, this is the philosopher
who invented logic as we know it.
Image trumps logic. (He blamed
our "sorry human nature.")
So how does Aristotle's Book
of Love work for a person or an
entire corporation? I can sum up
the technique in three words:
Caring, Craft, and Cause.
C
By Jay Heinrichs
Illustration by
Nigel Buchanan
he book of Love was
written by the philosopher Aristotle and
rewritten by Southwest. Study them
both and you'll learn
how to become a beloved brand-
or a beloved person.
Aristotle was a provably brilliant teacher. Among his more
notable pupils: Alexander the
Great. After some early successes-like, you know, conquering the
known world-Alexander carried
out an even greater ambition: turning conquered peoples into proud
citizens of the Greek Empire. (As
62 SOUTHWEST SEPTEMBER 2014
aring means your
audience-family, friends,
future employers, customers-believe you have their
best interest at heart. Remember
the movie Miracle on 34th Street?
When the Santa at Macy's learns
that the store doesn't have the
toy a particular little boy wants,
he tells the boy's mother where
she can find it. Word spreads that
Macy's favors kids over its own
profit, and the store gets flooded
with mail-and customers. Mr.
Macy himself endorses the Santa
policy, proclaiming, "This way
Macy's will be known as the store
with a heart."
Which may remind you of
another company with a heart.
Southwest empowers its employees to serve customers in personal
ways. This is Caring at its strategic,
and heartfelt, best.
SEPTEMBER 2014 SOUTHWEST
63
-MONAFEITHA DARBONNE
SPRING , TE X A S
Thanks, Monafeitha. You clearly already know a lot about love.
ACTS OF KINDNESS
TALK TO US
Send your letters to 2811 McKinney
Ave., Suite 360, Dallas, TX 75204, or
email letters@southwestmag.com.
For comments or questions directed at
Southwest Airlines that don't pertain
to the magazine, please visit the
"Contact Us" page at southwest.com.
facebook.com/
SouthwestMagazine
@SouthwestTheMag
#SouthwestMag
@SouthwestMagazine
#SouthwestMag
30 SOUTHWEST NOVEMBER 2014
I recently read "Save the Day!"
[September 2014], and I wanted to
commend and thank writer Grant
Stoddard for his wonderful acts of
kindness toward the strangers he
met. I really appreciated his perseverance to do good, especially when
he received negative feedback from
the people he was trying to help.
I have a little theory that everyone
wants happiness, but to be able
to have it we need to feel loved. I
remember a particularly bad day I
experienced as an overly emotional
seventh grader. It was an early
morning, and I was late for school.
On top of having unfinished homework, I had forgotten multiple things
at home, and I stubbed my toe on
the way to class. Upon reaching the
classroom, my teacher told me, "Go
to the nurse; you're bleeding on my
carpet." I remember feeling utterly
hopeless and unimportant. I started
crying right there in the hallway
and was having trouble composing
myself when a stranger placed
her hand on my shoulder and simply
asked, "Are you okay? How can
I help?" That stranger and Grant
are the type that give people like
seventh-grade me hope. Thank
you again.
-CHLOE GALLI
C L O V I S , C A L I FO R N I A
Your letter shows how long the memory
of an act of kindness can last; it also
shows how much a seventh grader
can need one.
http://www.southwest.com
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Southwest The Magazine - November 2014
Southwest The Magazine - November 2014
Gary’s Greeting
Saludos de Gary
You Made Our Day
Our Star
Rapid Rewards Freedom Story
From the Editor
Feedback
Snapshots
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
Wise Guide
Numbers
Business
Winter, Party of ___ .
Last Man Standing
Your Adventure In Burbank
Promotional Series: Nonstop Love
Promotional Series: Spirit of Reno Tahoe
Calendar
Fun!
Products and Services
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Flight Service
Information
Rapid Rewards
Terminal Maps
Route Map
The “If” List
Southwest The Magazine - November 2014
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