Why do I always feel obliged to pick on the airline industry? Well, because the airlines make it so easy. However, there are a few in the airline industry that truly understand the importance and power of a strong brand. As one client leader from a large telecommunications company said to me, "It's just about sucking a little less than the competition."

As most airlines have experienced, it's actually really hard to "suck less". The airlines that "suck less" are the ones that recognize that its people and the processes and behavioral ways that they've been trained on are proprietary to the company. The behaviors are personal and it shows.

Take JetBlue for example. Are they perfect, no, but are they consistently better than the competition, no question about it. Let me share with you a recent, yet very typical, experience designed into the workforce at JetBlue. Aside from the fact that the check-in staff, gate employees, and flight attendants are almost always overtly kind and friendly, JetBlue pilots also get into the service side of the action. It is not uncommon to see a pilot help out with the cleanup inside the plane in order to speed up the turnaround time.

On one particular flight I was on, the pilot came out of the cockpit just before leaving the gate and addressed the passengers using the microphone. He said, "Thank you very much for flying with us today. I am sure you will enjoy the JetBlue experience. By show of hands, how many of you are first-time flyers with JetBlue?"

None of us raised our hands even though there were probably a few first-time JetBlue flyers. The pilot continued, "Great, we have a bunch of savvy veterans who have come back for the JetBlue experience. Then you know what to expect. Great service, a great flight, and live TV. Folks, today we have the best flight attendants in the industry. Please don't hesitate to reach out to them if there is anything we can do to make your experience with us as pleasant as possible."

In less than 15 seconds, this pilot not only mentioned the term "experience" three times, he also set a high expectation for the flight attendants to live up to. My guess is that they welcomed that high expectation because they truly enjoy servicing passengers. JetBlue does a phenomenal job hiring, training, and evaluating its employee base to ensure they buy into the strategy and deliver it at each touchpoint.

Drafting optimal behaviors requires a unique investment by your company. In return, doing so promises to maximize the strategic value of workforce performance and contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage. Bottom line: The behaviors that your employees create become proprietary and lead to differentiation in the marketplace. Behaviors are the way you do business. They drive your culture. They drive your brand from the inside out.

I wonder if United wished they sucked a little less....