A colleague recently passed along a column written by Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, which first appeared in the airline’s “Spirit Magazine.” The title of the piece was “Culture Done Differently.” In it, Mr. Kelly explains that at Southwest they try to keep their culture “supportive, active and fun.”

If you’ve ever flown on Southwest, you’ll know that not only do they talk the talk, but they walk the walk. Southwest’s company culture is not only reflected in its policies, but it oozes out from every employee.

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Sometimes it’s easy to overlook all the things that bless our lives. I mean, we’re suffering through the worst recession in decades. Unemployment has reached double digits. And we have troops abroad fighting a war. All of these things have either affected you directly or indirectly. Maybe you or someone close to you is currently unemployed. It may be that a loved one is a member of the armed forces and is defending our country. Things could be better.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. Things could be a lot worse, too. It’s always important to stop and reflect about what we have in our lives to be thankful for. It’s great to train yourself to do this frequently, but each year as our country celebrates Thanksgiving, we have the opportunity to step back from our day-to-day activities and consider how we’ve been blessed.

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Do you have a passion for your work? I mean, do you really love what you do?

I was at a conference recently and one of the speakers really grabbed my attention. What he had to say was interesting but not earth-shattering. His presentation and speaking style were strong, but that’s still not what caught my attention. This guy was clearly passionate about what he did, and it came screaming through to everyone in the audience. Here was a guy who was having a blast, not because he was in front of a crowd of a couple hundred people but because he genuinely loved his work.

When someone is passionate about what they do, it shows. You can see it in their eyes. You can hear it in how they talk. You can even see it in the way they walk. I had a colleague so convinced of this last one that he claimed many of the prospective job candidates he interviewed had lost the job just on the basis of the walk back to his office. If they didn’t walk with purpose, if they couldn’t keep up when he led them down the hall, they had a big strike against them before the interview even started. People who are excited about what they do have an energy about them that’s contagious.

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It’s hard to believe but 2009 is coming to an end. For many, 2009 can’t be over soon enough. For most businesses, it has been a challenging year. And while we’ve seen a rebound in the stock market, most companies are reporting earnings that, while they beat analysts’ estimates, are still significantly less than they were a year ago.

Many companies report their results on a calendar year, which means they’re in the middle or just wrapping up their budgeting process for 2010. So, as you look into your crystal ball, what are you predicting for the year ahead? Do you see an economic recovery?  What about the so-called “jobless recovery”? How will an economic recovery that doesn’t include jobs affect your business? Will things get better in the first quarter or the fourth? When will corporate spending return, since so many companies are beating earnings estimates by cutting costs?

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