Author Archives: Rusty Rueff

About Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff, author of purposed worKING. Rusty Rueff is the former Chairman Emeritus of The GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles. He most recently completed the successful 16 month leadership role as Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama (T4O) for the reelection of President Obama and ten-years of Board service and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Corporately, most recently Rueff was the Chief Executive Officer at SNOCAP, Inc. until the acquisition of the company by imeem, Inc. in April 2008. Before joining SNOCAP in 2005, he was Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts (EA) from 1998 until 2005. He was also with the PepsiCo companies for more than ten years, with the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies for two years, and in commercial radio as an on-air personality for six years. Rusty holds an M.S. in counseling and a B.A. in radio and television from Purdue University. In 2003 he was named a distinguished Purdue alumnus, and he and his wife, Patti, are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a corporate director of Glassdoor.com and runcoach. He is the co-founder and Executive Committee Member of T4A.org, serves on the Founding Circle of The Centrist Project and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also the co-author of the book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Hillsborough, CA and Charlestown, R.I.

day 2136: Burden of Proof

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“For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light”

I got picked this week to serve on a criminal trial jury.  Wednesday will be day 3 of the trial.  At the beginning of the process a jurist is read the constitutional rights of a defendant and our entire justice system is predicated on the premise that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty and the entire burden of proof resides with the prosecution.  So, literally, a defendant’s attorney would not need to do anything if she/he believes that the prosecution is not proving guilt, beyond a reasonable doubt.  When issues are approached that way, like what happens in a courtroom, it changes everything.  There is no “He said” or “She said”, unless what was really said can be backed up with proof of what was said, by the people who said it.  There are no speculations that can’t be established as proof and there is no hyperbole about what might have or could have been.  I have thought more than once while in the juror’s seat that if we operated more in business and society with the burden of proof how much less antagonistic and forgiving we would be with each other.  Think how many times a day that we start with “They are wrong” versus, “They are right until proven they aren’t”.

And I am reminded once again of how God’s love is so amazing.  Yes, amazing is the grace and mercy that we each receive daily from Him where in a nano-second we each could be condemned for what we have done, or will do, but God doesn’t see it that way.  He sees that we carry our own burden and that He doesn’t care at all about proving anything with us.  All He cares is that we bring all of our wrongs to Him for Him to sweep away eternally so that we can someday enter into His presence without blemish or fault.  The verdict He wants us to make is one of choice and living with Him.  That’s the burden we carry and the gift that is ours to receive.

Reference:  Matthew 11:30 (New Living Translation)