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 1436: Old Faithful

purposed worKING No Comments

“Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.”

There is much to be learned from nature.  We revolve around the seasons and we can see ourselves in the  patterns of nature.  I’ve never been to Yellowstone National Park, although I’ve been very close a number of times.  I want to go to see the spectacular beauty and also the wonder that is the geyser spout, Old Faithful.  For longer than any of us have been alive, Old Faithful has been spouting off, on its own regular schedule.  So regular and expected, it gained the name “faithful”.  Don’t we wish our companies and organizations could claim that moniker?  Imagine that our customers and consumers counted on us for such regularity that they expected us to be there for them at all times.  That is what is called true consumer confidence!  And, if we are consistent and regular, we can even “spout off” and its okay.

Few people,  are so consistent that they can can spout off at others and expect to gain the respect and confidence of others.  And for sure, if we don’t have the facts and done our own work to gather and appreciate those facts then there isn’t anything good that can come from our actions.  With our hurry up and be the first to post or send the email culture we run a high risk of losing the respect and confidence of others when we spout off without having done our homework.  Many things hurt our reputation and while it may not be obvious, when we do the above, each time we erode and lose ground with others.  Consider God’s Word directs us slow down, master the facts, and then make our opinion known.

Reference: Proverbs 18:13 (New Living Translation)