And Now the Hard Part

Neeleman's one-on-one leadership may seem quaint and overmatched in a large company, but it has ways of rippling out, of moving people to feel passion about his vision and their work at JetBlue. "I would walk through a burning building for him," says Tom Krizek, the pilot of the Salt Lake City flight. He's the same pilot who met Neeleman for the first time five hours earlier and spent the last hour of the trip talking with him about family and life and flying after Neeleman moved to the cockpit. The pilot who had greeted him, "So you really do exist."

And after 1 a.m. (3 a.m. his time), Neeleman stands in line at the Hertz counter. As he waits, he talks to a few passengers who have just gotten off his flight. He asks about their upcoming ski trip, tells them about plans to expand JetBlue to new cities. When they're done, he steps forward and hands over his premium club card. He didn't have to stand in line for his car. He could have whipped out the card and been on his way, but that would have meant jumping ahead of JetBlue customers. That's not his style.

Sidebar: David Neeleman'S flying lessons

JetBlue is the third airline Neeleman has helped create. What has he learned?

• Do more for customers
  "Not everything resonates with every customer," says Neeleman. "Some people like the leather seats, some like the TV, some like the fact that we don't overbook our flights. I don't care if they don't notice everything we do. Just as long as they notice something that's different about us."
• Only the paranoid survive
  Neeleman is always on the lookout for complacency, particularly when things are going well. That's when companies develop bad habits and inefficiencies creep in. "When you're making money and good margins, you tend to get sloppy," he says.
• Actions speak louder than words
  Neeleman talks a lot about teamwork, how every employee is vital to the success of the airline. But he knows that message could ring hollow if he didn't live it. When he flies, he helps flight attendants pass out snacks and stays behind to clean the plane. "You can't ask employees to do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself," he says.
• The best culture polices itself
  At JetBlue, managers aren't the only ones holding employees accountable. Flight attendants and baggage handlers keep an eye on each other, too. "If you treat a fellow crewmember or a customer badly, there's enough people around here who care about profit sharing and the JetBlue culture that you're going to hear about it later," says Neeleman.
• Competition is the ultimate motivation
  When rivals began pulling out all the stops to compete with JetBlue last year, Neeleman used the battle to unify employees. "It's easier to motivate people when you're under attack," he says. "I say, 'They want to kill this airline and take your jobs away.' People respond to that challenge."
• Employees have to understand the business
  "I always talk about the tripod -- low costs, a great product, and capitalization," he says. "If everyone here understands how important it is to maintain each leg, you've got a very stable business model."

Sidebar: How to scale without losing your soul

JetBlue's flight plan for growth

• Build a team of big thinkers
  Since he has never run a large company, founder and CEO David Neeleman has surrounded himself with senior executives who have. From the beginning, they've been adding technology, processes, and personnel before the airline actually needs them.
• Don't scale at the expense of people
  One of the first questions senior managers ask when making changes is, "How does this affect the crewmembers' way of life?" If a change hurts morale, it's not worth it, because, says Neeleman, employees treat customers the way they're treated themselves.
• Stay small as you grow
  JetBlue tries to maintain the feel of a startup by having senior officers practice "visible leadership." Once a quarter, they each visit an assigned city, conduct an informal Q&A session with employees, and work alongside them for a day. Throughout the year, each executive serves as a point person for his or her city, a direct connection to top leadership.
• Propagate the culture
  Perhaps the biggest fear among JetBlue senior executives is losing the airline's distinctive culture as it becomes a big company. In a series of training courses, Neeleman and other senior managers teach supervisors the principles they rely on to manage people and make decisions.

Chuck Salter is a senior writer at Fast Company.

Discussion Guide

Interested in further exploring some of the ideas and issues in this article? Consider starting a Fast Company reading group. Here are some possible conversation catalysts:

• Chuck Salter's profile of JetBlue shows how the startup developed its niche -- but faces an uphill climb to compete with the top air carriers. Draw out the frequent business travelers in your group and survey what they look for when flying for work. For those who get to choose their airlines, are they seeking out alternative carriers such as JetBlue, MidWest Express, and Southwest, or sticking with the major ones? In the cutthroat, low-margin airline business, how can JetBlue boost its business appeal?
• Develop a list of other companies in recent years that stalled and lost their focus before picking up their growth again. What can JetBlue do to avoid this?
• Would your group members ever choose a higher fare in return for certain service guarantees, or is price the ultimate driver? If so, can the JetBlue model work?
• Discuss some of the advice in the "How to Scale Without Losing Your Soul" sidebar above. Are you and your organization able to "stay small" as you work to expand? How do you maintain a successful culture even as the business core changes?