Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders: What the Airline Industry Can Teach Us about Leadership

254 Pages·2009·3.62 MB·English

by  Anthony J. Mayo

Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders

Entrepreneurs, Managers,
and Leaders
What the Airline Industry Can Teach
Us about Leadership
Anthony J. Mayo,
Nitin Nohria, and
Mark Rennella
ENTREPRENEURS, MANAGERS, AND LEADERS
Copyright © Anthony J. Mayo, Nitin Nohria, and Mark Rennella, 2009.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-61567-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-60387-9 ISBN 978-0-230-10095-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230100954
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mayo, Anthony J.
Entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders : what the airline industry can
teach us about leadership / Anthony J. Mayo, Nitin Nohria, Mark
Rennella.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Airlines—United States—Management. 2. Leadership. I. Nohria,
Nitin, 1962– II. Rennella, Mark. III. Title.
HE9803.A4M39 2009
658.4(cid:2)092—dc22 2008053005
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: September 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Transferred to Digital Printing in 2013
To our children
Hannah, Alexander, and Jacob Mayo
Reva and Ambika Nohria
Davis and Benjamin Rennella

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I The Entrepreneurs
Chapter 1 The Guggenheims: Promoting
Aviation in America 21
Chapter 2 Juan Trippe’s Early Entrepreneurial Efforts 41
Chapter 3 C. E. Woolman and Delta Air Lines 61
Part II The Managers
Chapter 4 Juan Trippe and the Growth of
International Air Travel 85
Chapter 5 C. R. Smith and American Airlines 107
Chapter 6 William “Pat” Patterson and United Air Lines 129
Part III The Leaders
Chapter 7 Herb Kelleher at Southwest Airlines 155
Chapter 8 G ordon Bethune’s Revival of
Continental Airlines 173
Epilogue 191
Notes 197
Bibliography 235
Index 239

Acknowledgments
T
he rise, bitter fall, and rebirth of the airline industry over the past one-
hundred years captured our imaginations and sparked our interest in
exploring industry evolution and specifically the role that leadership
played in shaping that evolution. In many ways, the research and writing of
Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders was, for us, an evolutionary process—one
that took us down many different avenues. Along the way, we received a con-
siderable amount of support for which we are very grateful.
We are thankful for the support and encouragement provided by Harvard
Business School, especially Dean Jay Light and the Faculty Chairs of the
Division of Research, Professors Debora Spar and Srikant Datar. We also wish
to acknowledge the support of other members of the Division of Research,
including Research Director, Professor Geoff Jones, Ann Cichon, and
Steve O’Donnell. In particular, we would like to acknowledge Linda Hill and
the HBS Leadership Initiative for supporting us throughout this project. We
are indebted to the staff of Baker Library, especially Laura Linard and Melissa
Murphy of the Historical Collections Department, who helped to identify and
provide archival photos and information about the early years of aviation in the
United States.
Throughout the process of researching and writing Entrepreneurs, Managers,
and Leaders we have benefited from the insights and fresh perspectives of a
number of friends and colleagues, including Tom Gaffny, Rakesh Khurana,
Joshua Margolis, and Scott Snook. In particular, we would like to acknowledge
Christopher Marquis who read an early draft of the entire manuscript and pro-
vided thoughtful and actionable feedback. We are grateful for Laura Singleton’s
assistance on the C. R. Smith chapter, Mark Benson’s work on the Gordon
Bethune chapter, and Michael Horn’s insights and background on the early
years of Juan Trippe. At various times throughout the last few years, Deborah
Bell, Letty Garcia, Amanda Pepper, and Lisa Pode provided excellent research
assistance and administrative support. Amanda Pepper was very helpful in con-
ducting the early rounds of photo research for the book. Finally, we wish to
thank our publisher at Palgrave Macmillan, Laurie Harting, who provided
insightful advice and suggestions during the final editing process.