Leading with a tailwind: Propelling comms with business savvy and grace
Southwest’s Linda Rutherford shares lessons learned after nearly 33 years flying high.
By Diane Schwartz
It was one of the few times that Linda Rutherford did not take her mother’s advice. It was 1992 and Linda was an airline beat reporter for the Dallas Times Herald when the newspaper shut down and left her looking for another job.
She was presented with two offers: as an assistant editor for American Airlines’ employee newspaper or as PR coordinator for Southwest Airlines. Linda’s mom advised her to go for the American Airlines job, which would pay her more. Putting on her business reporter hat, Linda instead took the job with the company that was more profitable at the time.
Nearly 33 years later, Linda is retiring from the role of chief administration officer and staying on as advisor to the company. When she tells this story of going with her gut and hitching a ride on Southwest for most of her career, it makes perfect sense to those who know Linda.
Her wing span as a communicator is more expansive than most, as she positioned herself early on as a business executive who’s an expert at communications, as a communicator who’s adept at building high-performing teams.
From her early days at Southwest, Linda identified the need to prove PR’s value to the business if the communications function was going to be taken seriously by the C-suite. Something as simple as source coding a press release with last-click attribution to PR allowed her team to show how PR was contributing to airline ticket sales.
Linda provides leadership for about 4,000 employees across Culture & Communications; People; Learning & Development; DEIB; Internal Audit and Technology ;and AI at an airline with 74,000 employees. She has a keen eye for hiring talent, and hews to hiring people who think differently than others on the team — for example, bringing on a leader with a history degree because they showed a capacity for contextualizing issues. In her post-retirement role as advisor to the C-suite, Linda says one of her remits will be to “go grow leaders.”
Linda will be inducted in Ragan’s Top Women in Communications Hall of Fame on March 12 in New York City where she’ll share more of her back story. Meanwhile, come on board this Q&A to hear how Linda has navigated her role and what she sees for the future of communications and business leadership.
Origin Story
DIANE: After taking the entry level job as PR coordinator at Southwest, how did you rise up in the organization?
LINDA: Through the years, I took on more and more leadership responsibility and provided strategic counsel to senior leadership. My first senior leadership role was that of VP Public Relations & Community Affairs. I demonstrated capacity, worked to grow leaders and was able to take on other functions over time growing to my chief administration officer role in 2022.
DIANE: What was your most memorable part of that first job as coordinator?
LINDA: I have many wonderful memories doing PR in the early years. A memory that stands out: One of my first jobs was to organize a partnership event between Southwest and the cast and crew of the TV show, “Wings” with Tim Daly and Christal Bernard. It was for charity, so we opted to do a celebrity bowling event.Proceeds benefited Angel Flight in California and if the Southwest team won, our then CEO Herb Kelleher could appear on an episode of the show. We did win, and Herb walked on as a “traveler” during one of the tapings.
DIANE: How did your background in journalism prepare you for communications?
LINDA: Reporters must have an intellectual curiosity, ask a lot of questions and work to understand an issue from all angles. That helped me grasp the complex business of running an airline and learn where the good stories were and how to tell them.
DIANE: What will your new role as advisor to the CEO entail?
LINDA: I’ll provide strategic counsel on business, talent and leadership matters and serve as a sounding board for our CEO and other senior leaders. I’ll also continue my role as a Southwest ambassador with external audiences and speaking engagements. I’m also looking forward to my continued professional work as a trustee for both the Institute for Public Relations and Page.
Leadership
DIANE: What leadership skill do you lean on most to run an effective department?
LINDA: For all the departments and leaders I lead, the strength I lean on most is my ability to cascade information quickly and transparently. It helps keep people focused, in the know and understanding the why. Our teams go through the change curves first so they can help the rest of the organization get there.
DIANE: You’re fortunate to have a seat at the table at Southwest. What advice do you have for others seeking that influence?
LINDA: Have a perspective and the courage to share it; be an honest broker and truth-teller; and don’t forget the importance of relationships.DIANE: For women in leadership roles, there’s been slow, but steady progress, with small percentages of women in CEO roles and board roles. What are some tangible ways to speed up change?
LINDA: Women need to mute the negative self-talk in the backs of their brains. We sometimes stop ourselves from stepping up or taking on more responsibility if we think we’re “only” 80 percent ready or prepared and we must stop that behavior as a key way to speed up change.
DIANE: You have a proven track record building and leading high-performance teams. If there’s one big takeaway or lesson you can share about how to do this, what would it be?
LINDA: Spend all your time finding the right leaders. Then, pour into them and grow them. Speed of the leader, speed of the team. If you hire tough, you will manage easy and that great leader will find great employees and coworkers.
Culture
LINDA: It’s a mosaic of a thousand small things that helps our work environment be one where employees feel welcomed, cared for and appreciated. When employees feel secure and can do their best work, our customers get a great product and that in turn makes shareholders happy!
DIANE: How have you and your communications team been able to influence work culture and critical decisions about changes at Southwest?
LINDA: Our communications team, its CCO and VP of Communications and Brand approach all company challenges and critical decisions first with a focus on what success looks like and a keen understanding of what problem is to be solved. If you lead first with a communications solution you limit the contribution you and the team can make to the overall solve on behalf of the company.
DIANE: Tell us about the Corporate Listening Center and how this impacts the Southwest work culture.
LINDA: It’s a terrific nerve center that allows us to listen and monitor customer and employee conversation on key digital channels like Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok. It can be useful in many ways, from an early alert system to a network/operational disruption to a way to effectively join the zeitgeist with a pertinent trending topic. Listening in this way also allows us to respond quickly to customer issues. It allows us to “go where the customers are” on a real-time basis.
DIANE: How are you advising the C-suite on DEI issues?
LINDA: Several years ago, communications spearheaded creating a corporate Social Topics Committee, which is comprised of about 14 senior leaders representing communications, DEIB, our (especially frontline) employees, our customers, legal, governmental affairs, HR, community outreach and investor relations. It meets regularly (and can convene urgently as needed) to review requests such as to fund, petition, pledge, etc., a particular issue.
It serves as a recommending body to our CEO, and he regularly taps into this group to get advice on a myriad of social issues (immigration, voters’ rights, LGBTQ/human rights, etc.). The committee uses an interactive document of about 30 “test” questions that guide recommendations about whether or not to engage on a particular topic and then recommend a position to the CEO.
The committee also recommends when the company proactively takes on certain social issues as it has in the last five years with efforts to proactively combat human trafficking and to advocate internally for more mental health and wellness services for employees.
DIANE: What are some ways you’ve been able to demonstrate the value of comms to the bottom line?
LINDA: We developed a measurement and analytics practice some years ago and focused not just on vanity metrics but on impact. One way early on we used to get the attention of our marketing friends was to source code all our PR material for “last click attribution.”
We asked marketing to track all the source codes and reported regularly on how our social content, news releases and other material were bringing in revenue via last click attribution – where a consumer clicked on a news release in an online web platform and then purchased a ticket on Southwest. That opened the door to marketing more closely partnering with us on all go-to-market activities because they now saw our outreach and content as performing rather than just informing.
The Work
DIANE: Across so many functions at Southwest, how do you divide your time?
LINDA: A third of my time is spent on governance, business and staff meetings or 1:1 interactions with my team; one third is spent traveling for company, industry, professional or volunteer events; and another third is spent traveling to Southwest locations around the country to spend time with our employees, provide business updates and answer questions from the frontline.
DIANE: Take us through a typical workday – what time do you wake up, what’s your morning routine, best part of day?
LINDA: I wake up about 6:30 a.m. each day with snuggles from my dog as soon as he hears the alarm go off. I scan the headlines from overnight, jump in the shower, enjoy a morning coffee and do my daily Wordle and Connections games.Self
DIANE: Personal habits that work? A habit you want to shed?
LINDA: I’m still an analog list maker. Nothing makes me happier. I print my daily calendar so I can write up my priorities for the day – it’s just a way for me to center and focus on what needs to get done.
A habit I would like to shed is that of overscheduling. I always seem to think I can get more done in a day than is humanly possible. I move fast but thankfully my senior executive assistant is my calendar guru and a real partner to help me keep balanced.
DIANE: Take us through a typical weekend day.
LINDA: Weekends are for family and friends. We keep chores to a minimum but seasonally garden via raised beds in the backyard, ride my e-bike and make plans with friends at local hangouts. And, of course, I work for an airline so weekend trips are a favorite treat. Best weekend trips: New Orleans, Las Vegas and Wine Country in Northern California.
Other Tidbits
Aisle or Window Seat?
Window seat (always one or two rows behind the exit row and always on the captain’s side of the aircraft—right side as you board or left as you are seated)
Hometown & Family:
Hometown is Boston, Mass., but I grew up in Texas from age 9. Current home is in Dallas, TX, with my husband and Alfie, the wonder dog (a three-year-old Tibetan Spaniel). We have two grown children who live and work in Houston (Matt, 27) and New Orleans (Allison, 25).
First job:
Roller-skating carhop at Sonic Drive In.
Favorite quote:
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” (attributed to George Bernard Shaw)
Favorite book:
“Basic Black” by Cathie Black, a former president and publisher of USA Today and President of Hearst Magazines. It was a refreshing, honest recounting of stories and leadership lessons from a women’s perspective and I credit that read for summoning my courage to share my perspective in the boardroom.
Best Advice:
“See a need; fill a need.” – my mom
Worst Advice:
“I think you should take the job at American (Airlines).” – also my mom (thankfully I didn’t take that advice!)
Industry Mentors:
Southwest Airlines mentors: Founder Herb Kelleher, President Emeritus Colleen Barrett, Chairman Emeritus Gary Kelly, CEO Bob Jordan and my former leader/SVP Culture & Communications Ginger Hardage; industry leaders I also admire include former United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz and former Alaska Airlines CEO Brad Tilden.
To all Wonder Women: If you’re looking to connect with other women leaders in communications, consider joining us for the next Ragan’s Business Summit & Retreat in September 2025: Details are here.
