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 1902: Victory

purposed worKING No Comments

“For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”

As I write this, I don’t know who wins the NCAA 2015 March Madness Tournament. I also don’t know what type of victory it will be; a blow-out, a nail-biter or a comeback.  We love victories for our teams and our businesses, but we also love the stories that come alongside the win.  Even now as major league baseball season starts we can read and hear of the stories of the victories of last year, having them stand as rally cries for what might happen this year.  Business is not different.  I still read and hear stories of the way companies have rebounded to win or have dominated their category or knocked off the market share leaders with a new product or service.  So, it’s not only that we win, but it’s also using stories of the past to motivate and create momentum. How hard have we worked to be sure that our narrative is strong to win that next deal or account?

At church I heard the Pastor loud and clear when he calls Jesus’ story the greatest comeback of all time.  He was down, defeated, and then the disciples recalled that He and the prophets had foretold that three days after His crucifixion He would rise again.  That created the momentum shift that proceeds a comeback and then when the disciples saw Jesus again, the victory was complete. This is also the stories of our human condition.  We were on top of the world, fell and became broken, waited for the savior, found our Lord and can today claim victory over death.  Yes, the comeback victory of all time.  Where are each of us in our own personal victory stories?  Are we concerned about or stuck in defeat?  Are we in a holding pattern waiting for someone else to shift the momentum, or are we celebrating a victory?  Wherever we are, His story is ours to live and tell others.

Reference: Romans 6:4 (New Living Translation)