JetBlue’s Cultivation of a Soulful Workplace
03.31.2005 | Chris BaileyAt the Worthwhile Magazine blog, David Batstone writes about David Neeleman, the CEO and founder of JetBlue, and the company culture he is creating. Because of his church community service experience in the slums of Brazil back when he was a college student, Neeleman believes in building a company that is egalitarian and cares for its customers and employees in equal measure. I’ve yet to personally fly with JetBlue, but this is all because they only fly to Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale, and California out of my preferred airport of Washington Dulles. You can bet that once I need to get to one of these destinations, it’ll be JetBlue getting the business.
I love David’s question that he poses at the end. What he’s getting at is the essence of fostering a Soulful Workplace:
Why is it so hard to take the wisdom that we gain from our most
meaningful personal experiences and translate them into good practice
at the workplace? Most of the time we accept that is just the way the
world of work operates. As a result, the company culture sputters along
with its impersonal systems.I challenge individuals to think differently. Personal lessons do
not have to stay within our private borders. In fact, they are a
fountain out of which flows our public creativity.
It’s why I encourage folks to live full lives that are not one-dimensional, but integrate work, personal time, community service, passionate hobbies, and anything else that adds to the complete experience that is life. This is the wellspring of creativity and spirit that drives our existence. To segment all of this and leave it at the front door of the office is doing a disservice to the world and ourselves.
I honestly believe that our customers want to know who we are as people. They want to know that actual human beings with minds and hearts exist behind that corporate name. Knowing that David Neeleman’s business philosophy is guided by his experiences serving the poor makes me MORE likely to fly his airline than United or American (frankly, I have no idea who runs either of these companies) and far more dedicated to helping this company maintain it’s mission. That’s the choice I make as a consumer.
So all you company executives, I’m going to issue a second challenge to David Batstone’s above: come out from behind your company’s name and brand and tell us who you are and how your experiences contribute to creating a Soulful Workplace. You just might find a new passionate customer is waiting.
8 Responses to “JetBlue’s Cultivation of a Soulful Workplace”
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It’s always been my belief that people want to work with a living, breathing person with feelings. Why does that seem so hard to translate in the corporate environment? Leaving this “at the office door” allows for a less than “soulful” management style.
My best customers know about my dogs, my art, and that I’m pretty nuts.
Thank you for this wonderful post.
Hi Robin. Your comment got me thinking about something new (thanks for that). It works just the same for solo professionals trying to cultivate their business, too. Usually, our best clients come to us by word-of-mouth. But, what happens when someone does a search for a professional service (in your case, photography, and in my case, coaching)? Hypothetically, let’s say it all comes down to a choice between two people offering essentially the same service. Which one to pick? My guess is the one that reveals their personal side the most. Wouldn’t we prefer to work with friends over strangers? Someone we like over someone we’re ambivalent about?
This is why I expose myself. Why I offer my readers (and perhaps potential clients) at least 100 things that show the type of person I am. Why I decided to start up The Menagerie of Frivolous Fascinations. The more we know about a person, the more we know whether we want to work with them.
And knowing you, you’d be my first choice of photographer if I ever need someone while out there in Hawaii. The more you know, the easier it is to trust.
I think the problem is branding. Companies work SO HARD to create what they feel is a CONSISTENT brand experience accross many branches. The result is that employee personalities do get “left at the office door” because the company creates an environment where consistency is preferrable to personality.
What you’re saying here Chris is revolutionary, because you’re effectively saying to the companies “I am a client, and I prefer personality over consistent branding”
This is great news! Thanks for the post today
Chris, you are destined to be a leading virtual coach, and we are going to cherish our personal time with you before the day I am certain you hit the big time. This is yet another example of why your Alchemy of Soulful Work is must-reading for me every single day. (And by the way, our community is really starting to blow me away, for I read about your post on Jay’s Renaissance Girl first today.)
I’ve had people tell me I’m crazy to be exposing so much of myself through the writing on my websites, with my name imbedded in my email addresses and urls, in the name of my company, and in my book. It is a risky world to operate in to some degree. However after I made the decision to write MWA with my real name and not a pen name (which my extremely spotlight-shy family would have preferred) there was no going back, and I have to say how grateful I am for that. I can see no other way to build a community — and a business in today’s market — other than complete and total authenticity. The sense of overwhelming mahalo I have for the customers who come to me because they feel they know me, and they trust their vulnerability with me is profound, and it impacts me daily.
If you have a willingness to put yourself out there and trust that the aloha spirit does indeed live within people, and that your own aloha needs to thrive and prosper within you, magnificent things happen. Relationships with others, including your customer, become exceptionally rewarding for both of you.
Thing is, a company culture CAN be created and engendered where this is not only the hallmark of its leader. I’ve never flown with them either, however if Jet Blue is indeed successful, I can guarantee you that David Neeleman’s example is being followed in the rest of his company.
Great post Chris. I am in complete agreement with Robin’s and Jay’s sentiments; mahalo for writing this for us today.
Seize your opportunity for virtual coaching.
“What you’re saying here Chris is revolutionary, because you’re effectively saying to the companies ‘I am a client, and I prefer personality over consistent branding.’†— Jay “It’s always been my belief that people want to work with a liv…
Jay and Rosa, I’m very appreciative of your comments.
Jay, there are a lot of very smart people out there who deal with brands and marketing on a daily basis. However, I’ve always been a little skeptical of how much a brand can really do. It troubles me when companies adhere so strongly to their brand that they forget their relationship with their customer. And it doubly troubles me when individuals use branding in their own professional marketing (see T. Peters’ Brand Called You). Bottom line: you’re right. I’m more forgiving of a friend than a stranger. Tell me who you are and I’m likely to let go of a bad experience. Stay consistently on-message to your brand and I’m likely to say goodbye.
Rosa, I’m glad you came out and were genuine in the use of your name. I can’t imagine the authenticity of MWA paired with a pseudonym. Wouldn’t work for you or your readers. They read your writing, learn your personal story, and simply know that you are the person they need in their life and career. It’s what we want in a coach, in a manager, in our colleagues, and the list goes on and on…
I totally agree with David. A lot of people I come into contact to seem to have 2 personalities: Work & Home.
In my opinion, a successful business revolves around its individuals building strong, long term relationships with its customers. As Robin says in her comment, her best customers know all about her (as she has built strong relationships with them).
This actually then makes conducting business far easier because it pushes the “transaction” into the background and it almost becomes secondary to the relationship.
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