24 Facts About Colleen Barrett

Colleen Barrett was an American business executive who served as president, and later president emerita, of Southwest Airlines.

Colleen Barrett was an influential figure in the founding and development of the company.

Colleen Barrett attended the Worcester campus of Becker Junior College on a government loan, where she graduated in 1964 with a two-year degree to become a legal secretary.

In 1967, the family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where Colleen Barrett's husband was stationed.

Colleen Barrett was a devout Catholic and cited her faith as a major influence on her leadership style and career.

In 1968, several years after graduating from Becker, Colleen Barrett got a job as a legal secretary working for Herb Kelleher when he was a young lawyer at Wilbur Matthews' law firm in San Antonio.

Colleen Barrett grew to play a pivotal role in keeping Kelleher organized, setting him up for his eventual success as both a lawyer and businessman over their 51-year working relationship.

Colleen Barrett was closely involved with every step of the legal process.

Colleen Barrett was promoted to Executive Vice President of Customers in 1990.

Colleen Barrett described her transition to true leadership as a gradual process, and for several years even after she had been promoted beyond an assistant to Kelleher she had to occasionally remind board members and other senior leaders at the company that she was a distinct leader and not "just a parrot of what Herb thinks".

Colleen Barrett had been credited with helping fundamentally shape Southwest's customer service strategy, employee culture, and leadership philosophy.

Colleen Barrett is commonly referred to as the airline industry's "Queen of Hearts" for her focus on corporate values and service.

In March 2001, Kelleher, who had been serving as Chairman, CEO, and President, retired from the latter two positions, passing the CEO role to James Parker and the president role to Colleen Barrett, who was made chief operating officer.

Colleen Barrett started by inheriting a difficult labor dispute with the Transport Workers Union of America representing Southwest ground operations agents.

Colleen Barrett's leadership was not without some missteps along the way and had acknowledged the failure of her effort to create bereavement fares at the airline.

Colleen Barrett generated some criticism for the airline in 2007 when she publicly defended an employee's decision to forbid a customer from boarding a flight for wearing a mini-skirt.

The airline consistently had the fewest complaints according to the Department of Transportation, an accomplishment largely credited to Colleen Barrett's focus on customer service.

In 2008, Barrett stepped down as president of the airline, passing the title to then-CEO Gary C Kelly.

Colleen Barrett enjoyed returning to a regular employee role and continued to work in customer service and employee development roles for the next 5 years.

Colleen Barrett was well known for her focus on servant leadership.

Colleen Barrett focused on egalitarian principles and treating all employees equally.

Colleen Barrett was a strong believer in the Golden Rule, and had it posted visibly in all Southwest locations.

Colleen Barrett had focused on hiring for fit over skill.

In 2010, Colleen Barrett published a book with Ken Blanchard on her leadership philosophy titled Lead with LUV.