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 1499: Taking Part

“But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus…”

Yesterday, almost 30K people ran the New York City Marathon.  Of the 30K, only a few really have a chance of winning. So, why do the rest participate in the race?  The Marathon is in interesting sport.  It’s really not at all about the winning.  As writer Gideon Lichfield states: “To a greater degree than perhaps in any other sport, in marathons it really is the taking part that counts.”  He is right.  It is about taking part.  The same can be said about business and our careers.  Few will ever get a chance to even be considered for the CEO role, or a functional leadership position.  Most will never get independently wealthy from their work. But, all want to take part in something that is important, meaningful and satisfying.  That is what we need to create to make sure that the best want to take part in what we have to offer.

Jesus calls us to take part.  I was speaking at our church’s Men’s Retreat the weekend before last and I reminded everyone, and myself, that our faith is not a private one.  Sure, it can be, but that is not what Jesus called us to do.  He called us to take part in spreading the word of Him and to expand His kingdom.  He has given each of something unique about us that can touch the lives of others for Him, if we only decide to take part.  What is that part that is waiting for you today to just grab and run with?

Reference:  Mark 1:45 (New Living Translation)