What does it take to go from an entry-level employee to the Chief Administration Officer of one of America's most beloved companies?

In Part 1 of my conversation with Linda Rutherford, we explore Linda's remarkable career journey from the newspaper industry to the executive leadership team at Southwest Airlines.

After losing her newspaper job when her employer closed, Linda found an opportunity at Southwest and spent decades growing into one of the airline's most influential leaders. Along the way, she discovered that one of the most important leadership skills isn't speaking—it's listening.

Linda shares how a fifth-grade teacher changed the course of her life by making her write the "Wise Old Owl" poem 500 times in a spiral notebook, a lesson that would later shape her leadership philosophy, influence her writing on listening, and guide her contributions to books on leadership and organizational change.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Making career pivots after unexpected setbacks
• Growing from an entry-level role into executive leadership
• Why listening is one of the most underrated leadership skills
• The leadership lessons behind her published work on listening and change management
• How childhood experiences can shape a lifetime of leadership

If you've ever faced a career detour, wondered how leaders build trust, or wanted to understand the difference between hearing and truly listening, this conversation is for you.

Thanks for Answering the Call.

🎙️ Caller ID Podcast: where life, career, and identity meet.

📲 Listen and subscribe at daviswells.com/caller-id-podcast.

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You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

In part two of our call, Coach Ellenwood talks about his desire to keep learning and how he deal with getting a little bored.

He also leans into his calling as someone who isn't a hoops expert (although I'll tell you having spent countless days on the road with him and his staff, they're definitely expert level hoops tacticians).

How he deals with losing now vs when he was a younger coach is a marked change, you don't want to miss that.

What brings his biggest frustrations and joys.

And of course, our word association with failure, money, and more.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

This week is part one of my call with Ashland University Head Men's Basketball Coach, John Ellenwood. Coaching basketball wasn't the original plan, but it's definitely turned into a calling. Turning down opportunities with the FBI and other major retailers are pieces of the first part of our conversation. John. talks about nearly being fired, and what it took for him to save his job, including dangling by a thread from high in a factory.

John is a deeply, insighful, and loyal man, who happens to also be a fantastic basketball coach.

Listen in to our call as we talk career, identity, and leadership in part one of our two-part call.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

This week, I catch up with a former boss, Cleveland Cavaliers television producer, Brent Valenti. Brent has produced live Cavalier basketball for the last fifteen years. I served on his home crew for years in the truck.

We talk leadership, how to make it in sports television, what to learn from failure, and how to keep a family together while you're spending time on the road.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

ESPN Director, Adam Bryant, joins me this week on the call, as we talk what it takes to work in sports broadcasting, being an African-American in the tv industry, and you'll hear my old nickname with the worldwide leader.

Adam has directed some of the biggest events in sports, from the NBA Playoffs to the WNBA Finals, bowl games, and all kinds of other events.

You can hear him talk about his start in tv from cold calling tv stations in the yellow pages to today.

A great director, but an even better person. Take a listen to this week's call.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

On part two of our fascinating call, Dr. Grady talks about how she went from grad school to getting a full-time professor role, the impact of AI on higher ed, her amazing work with corrections ed, and some great career wisdom.

You'll also hear about my ridiculous freshman comp story at Ohio University.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

Dr. Maura Grady joins me this week as we talk about higher ed careers, but also more than that as usual. It's not just her career path to higher ed, but what she learned along the way about herself, how to not attach outcomes to identity, and what drove her to English. All of this and more in part one of a two week conversation with one of the best and smartest people you'll find anywhere.

The truth is that both Maura and her husband, Tim, have taught me so many things. They've done so like all good teachers do, without judgment or "condescending me" (that's a movie quote for those of you out there, b/c Dr. Grady also teaches about such things).

Also, a talk with a college professor who teaches on movies had to be dubbed with the line from the higher ed classic, Animal House.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.

If you can’t be yourself in the interview… you don’t want the job.

This episode is a real conversation about authenticity, career alignment, and why so many people feel stuck in work that doesn’t fit.

We get into:

• Red flags in interviews (on both sides)
• Why people change jobs more than ever
• The danger of tying identity to your title
• How to actually find meaningful work

No fluff. Just honest perspective.

Support the show

Thanks for listening to Caller ID.

You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.

New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.

I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.