Howard Putnam

Howard Putnam's ultimate objective is Bottom Line Improvement. He believes that cultures that place people as their highest priority have the greatest long-term impact and success.

Howard is the former CEO of the highly successful Southwest Airlines where the foundation and culture place people first. He transformed a start-up carrier through deregulation into one of the most profitable companies in the airline industry. Later, when recruited to be the CEO of the failing Braniff International Airlines, he became the first CEO to successfully restructure a major airline into, through, and out of Chapter 11. Earlier he spent over twenty years with United Airlines, his final position being Group Vice President of Marketing.

Today, Putnam is a speaker that motivates his audiences on current business and leadership issues, focusing on drawing diverse teams together into a collaborative and successful entity. His presentations are especially relevant and helpful to industries going through change, transformation and deregulation. He has been there through the turbulent times and not only survived, but thrived.

Another hot topic keeping Howard busy is his Corporate Governance and Ethics presentations. Howard believes an effective workplace is one that needs to contain ongoing verbal and written reminders to employees concerning corporate ethics. They need to regularly witness real life examples from senior management demonstrating corporate governance and ethics.

These presentations are a character building experience. Teaching all involved the importance and values of honesty in corporate life, no matter how painful the consequences and about maintaining your reputation by taking the high road.

He is the co-founder (in 1998) and Chairman of AIR, (Aircraft Interior Resources) a commercial airline seat refurbishment company in Houston, Texas. He is one of the Founding Professors (in 1999) of www.MentorU.com, an internet mentoring and seminar company. He is the author of The Winds of Turbulence, published by HarperCollins and a commentator on Public Radio International's daily business program, Marketplace. Harvard University wrote a case study of his Braniff experiences, The Ethics of Bankruptcy, which is a teaching model for handling all stakeholders honestly and ethically through crisis. He has an MBA in Marketing from the University of Chicago and attended Harvard's Advance Management Program.

For nearly 30 years, Howard played a leading role in one of the most exciting and rapidly changing industries. He earned a well-deserved reputation for his capacity to think systemically, create a vision, build a team, define a niche, and design successful strategies for managing growth and crisis. An impressive entertainer and motivational speaker, Howard shares his prescription for successful management in the 21st Century.

Presentation Topics include:

Change and Transformation of Organisations

Creating the Vision and Establishing the Culture

Leadership Through Turbulence

Ethics Just Don't Happen

Corporate Governance and Ethics