Are you managing like Southwest flies?

You might be doing the job of someone working for you

Of the four major airlines in the US, available flights on Southwest are somewhat different from the others. As an example, if you want to fly from Detroit to Atlanta or Salt Lake City, with Delta you often will have the choice of a non-stop flight to your destination. However, with Southwest the flight is likely to have one or more stops.

Detroit to Atlanta could easily have stops in Nashville and Birmingham.

With the management style of many owners, it is a frequently heard comment of not having enough time in the day to get things done. As we observe  such a person’s workday, we see a resemblance to a Delta flight; whatever the situation or challenge, the issue always goes to the owner for analysis and a decision. We have seen some owners making some very minor decisions. And when you look at the dollar value of that decision, you have to wonder why the owner is getting involved in what could be a $10 decision.

With other owners we see more of a Southwest flight arrangement. Many decisions do not go to the owner, but instead are being made by someone such as a supervisor or manager. Of course, at this point we expect there are those reading this thought and thinking this could never work in their business.

Perhaps we do have an owner that is present for every hour the business is open. But doesn’t this person leave to eat a meal; go to the bank; or have an appointment with the accountant or someone from the medical field?

Who is running the business at this point? Perhaps the business has someone with a key to the building. Then, take a look at the balance sheet for the business. How much inventory, at cost, is there? What is the value of the fixtures, equipment, and computers? What about the value of delivery vehicles?

That is a lot of money. And yet we have an owner that will leave the building, and in a sense trust one or more employees with all the assets of the building. However, they won’t trust that same employee to make a decision with a value of $10.

With all the events that can happen in a business over the course of the day, we can easily see why an owner is having to stay in the building for hours after the business has closed. Perhaps we see an owner taking work home with them. We can also see why the next generation does not want to work in the business because of the hours their parent(s) have deemed necessary to run the business.

We offer a second evaluation of a similar situation. It is that of an owner who has hired a full time manager. Yet, when the owner is in the building it is the owner who is making all the decisions. In effect this owner is paying a manager for a full time job, yet is only requiring them to work as a manager part time. When the owner is in the building, the manager simply has a job of being a salesperson. Nice work if you can get it.

A thought to the contrary. The owner that requires the manager to operate the business when the manager is present and when the manager is not there, the owner will make the decisions. What the owner will have with such an arrangement is a full time effort from a full time manager, and the opportunity to watch how the manager is going to operate the business.

The situation would be the same if the manager was someone working less than full time hours. The owner gets to observe, and have the confidence in knowing how the business will be run.

The comparison of a Delta flight and a Southwest flight makes an interesting comparison to our example of an owner and their manager. While Southwest is frequently observed as a model of how to run an airline, their model of flying to destinations does not work as a management style.

If you would like to send this article to someone you know, please use this form to forward this page:

Your Name:	E-Mail:
Friend's Name:	E-Mail:
	Security Code:

This article is copyrighted by Tom Shay and Profits Plus Solutions, who can be reached at: PO Box 128, Dardanelle, AR. 72834. Phone 727-823-7205. It may be printed for an individual to read, but not duplicated or distributed without expressed written consent of the copyright owner.