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 2049: Soulfulness

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“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

There was an amazing book written in 1981 by Tracy Kidder; The Soul of a New Machine. If you were interested in computers or technology it became somewhat of a manifesto for those creating hardware and software.  The book won the Pulitzer Prize, telling the story of a team of engineers who gave their all to create a computer faster and with higher quality than their competitors. The speed and commitment by which the team works demonstrates that their souls are replicated within the machines they have created. When we hear of products that have “soul” what is being said is that there is a level of quality and accessibility that it becomes obvious that the heart and all of the creator has been infused into the design and operation.  We can’t often say this about many products, but when we do experience one, we know immediately that it has soul.

Our souls are our most treasured possession.  They are the one possession that God wants us to protect, invest and cherish.  Jesus clearly challenges us that everything else is for nought if we lose our souls. I know people who have soulfulness and their very character exudes daily the love of Christ.  We should each strive a little harder today to be sure that we are paying attention to how we are investing, or not investing, in the caretaking of our souls.

Reference:  Matthew 16:26 (New Living Translation)