Web Page of Lemuel Skidmore

Not many airlines are doing well today. JetBlue is, and Neeleman is the reason. He dared to go against the wisdom of Wall Street MBAs and built a company for customers and employees, not short-term investors and speculators.

To paraphrase some of his basic principles:

• Get all the funding you need--don't try to do things cheaply (and then blame employees when those things fail)

• Treat customers as people with whom you need a long-term relationship--not the source of this year's bonus

• Treat employees as the foundation of the company. Reward them well and give them job security

Consider the way Jet Blue handled their failures during a 2007 ice storm: they admitted that they failed. They did not blame their customers, various levels of government, or their employees.  Refreshing.

Jet Blue Website

"You don't manage people, you manage work. You LEAD people."

As if that one quote weren't enough, she is credited with the creation of the COBOL programming language (you'll find my name in the 1985 COBOL standard).

Her rank should say a few things about her as well.

Information on Admiral Hopper

Drilled the first oil well in Titusville, PA

Historian Daniel Boorstin said "He didn't know enough about engineering to know that what he was trying to do was impossible."

More information

Died 9 September 2003

A very creative and honest song writer and musician--with a sense of humour

One of many sources of information on Warren Zevon