What’s the first thing you do after you buckle your seatbelt on an airplane? Call me a weirdo or a bad millennial, but I pick up the airline magazine purely out of curiosity to see what’s on the cover. It’s fun to judge from the cover how these perennial print pieces are evolving in our current digital age, if at all, or to observe whether anyone else around me puts down their iPhone to pick up the magazine.
On a recent Southwest flight, I picked the airline magazine out of the little slot labeled “Literature Only” (hilarious)–as I always do–to take a glance. This cover was a minimal yet joy-inducing tribute to the late, great Herb Kelleher. And I decided to crack the magazine open–as I rarely do, for fear of an overload of horrible advertorials–to read more about the legend.
To my surprise, I learned a lot from the piece: about Herb’s leadership style and the traits that made him truly unique and successful—his zest for life, his commitment to employees, his memory, his infectious laugh, and his desire to break the mold–all told through the stories of Southwest colleagues.
I also reflected on something that Herb and I (and likely so many of you) have in common: a passion for discovery. Herb Kelleher set out to make discovery more fun and accessible for more people through travel. For me, discovery is the thread that weaves through many facets of my life–my interests, my passions, my career, my hobbies: I love discovering new places and experiences through travel; discovering new ideas and lessons through reading and learning and trying new things; discovering the latest products that will make my life better or more interesting, or the latest workouts that will push me harder; discovering what makes others tick; discovering new music; discovering what I’m bad at and what makes me laugh; discovering what lights up all the parts of my brain. And I love helping others discover things that I’ve found interesting or useful or funny.
After ending an incredible 7-month-long travel journey around the world that lit up all of my senses and pushed me out of my comfort zone continually, I currently find myself on a completely different, though connected, journey of discovery: trying to find the right next step in my career.
Continue reading here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-learned-myself-from-southwest-magazine-anna-tenuta/
Anna Logs It 