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 1938: Low-Grade Stress

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“Wait for the Lord. Be strong and don’t lose hope. Wait for the Lord”

 We are faced with all kinds of stress every day.  Sometimes it is obvious and big stuff that becomes all-consuming.  Other times though and just as negatively impacting is the low-grade stress that is part of our everyday lives.  This is the kind of stress that shouldn’t matter, but coupled with other stressing things  can start to add up and cause problems.  Remember back when you were new on a job or new into a new place and you didn’t have friends or relationships and the stress felt when it was time to eat, but there wasn’t anyone to eat with that you knew?  It’s a very small thing, but everyday that stress was with us as lunch time approached. Right now in California, we are under the circumstances of a severe drought.  Each time I see water being used I feel a low-grade stress that just hangs around.  It’s not that it is all-consuming, but it’s there and I know it has some effect.  And the same can be said of a strained co-worker relationship, a boss that isn’t communicating clearly how the company is doing, or a friend who isn’t being totally honest.  It can be anything and that means that we need to open our eyes and be cognizant of what could be the low-grade stress that we are adding on ourselves or on others.

How we handle our stresses around others is important. We are not perfect and no one expects us to be, but we are looked upon as ones who turn our stresses over to God and we aren’t to let them trigger other damaging emotions.  It’s easier said than done, but we can turn over our stresses to God and allow Him to make us capable and hopeful in our ability to handle what is thrust upon us.  It takes us waiting and being strong and hopeful in Christ, but it can be done. If only we will trust and remain faithful.

 Reference: Psalm 27:14 (New International Version)