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If These Walls Could Only Speak...Oh, but They Do!

kgeeding
Explorer C

As many of you may or may not know, the walls of Southwest's Headquarters are not decorated with expensive artwork, but rather the priceless pictures and items of our Employees and their loved ones, our history, and our Culture.  It's always fun walking up and down the halls, and ask anyone here, you always spot something you didn’t notice before hanging on those walls.  So I thought it would be fun to start a series of what's on our walls since only our Employees can see them.

 

I think the best approach to this series is to start from the ground floor and move our way up, and the most fitting item to start with is one of several murals that are displayed right outside our elevator doors.

 

The mural below is probably the most symbolic of them all, and it’s fitting that it’s located on the ground floor right next to the University for People since it’s really the foundation or cornerstone of our business.  As you can see, it’s the immortal words of our very own President Emeritus, Colleen Barrett, chiseled in stone:

 

The Golden Rule

TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED

 

With the small print stating:

 

Colleen Barrett on Providing Legendary Customer Service:“It’s not really complicated; it’s all based on The Golden Rule.” 

 

What I like about it is that it not only it serves as a daily reminder as we begin our day that we are a Customer Service organization that just happens to be in the airline business, but it’s also a reminder on how to make life less complicated.

 

 

 

 

 

6 Comments
Nathan3
Explorer C
Wow, a business using the golden rule? I'm beginning to see why you LUV working there, Keith.
Anonymous2101
Explorer C
This is a wonderful opportunity to share your workplace w/ others.........and to show others that not ALL businesses are about "me first"! Glad you are associated w/ SWA!
nsx
Adventurer C
How about adding a section to blogsouthwest containing a complete photographic copy of everything that's on all the walls at HQ? I'm thinking a virtual wall, walkable by mouse. It would take a professional photographer and a lot of time from the blog team, but the result would be overwhelming.
blusk
Aviator C
NSX--I don't know if we can get around to photographing all of the more than 20,000 pictures on the walls, but we do want to get the more significant electronic items online so Customers and our Employees around the country can view them,
Anonymous4277
Explorer C
Maybe like Google Maps....street view!
kim-seale
Adventurer C
Keith, What a great post and a wonderful example of the way the Culture of this Company and the Headquarters Building itself celebrates the Employees who work at Southwest Airlines! Indeed, the halls of HDQ are jam-packed with photographs, memorabilia and awards relating to the People and the history of SWA. You might be interested to know that as part of our recent Customer Appreciation Week, when the Customer Relations Department focused on reminding ourselves who we serve, individual teams competed in an inter-departmental "scavenger hunt" inside the building. Armed with a two-page list of items to locate, with varying point values based on how obscure the item was, each team took off with a camera and a thirty-minute time limit. The teams ran down the halls, often to the cheers of Employees from other departments who only knew that we were up to some sort of Southwest FUN, using cellphones. personal observations and knowledge from more tenured team members to photograph each "find." The game was fun, but beyond the enjoyment of it, the scavenger hunt reminded us that we are a Team, that by working together we can accomplish more, and that it is important to stay connected to our "roots" as a Company -- the People and the LUV that makes us Southwest Airlines! Kim Customer Relations Blog Boy