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 1404: Perspective and Discipline

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While on a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) in Spain, I  asked some of the most committed and courageous faith-driven business leaders I know to guest contribute to Purposed worKING.  Enjoy! – Rusty

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“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

Doubled over, dizzy, eyes blurry, dry-heaving…I remember it like it was yesterday. This was the scene twice a year at West Point when I took the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). You see, the test consisted of two minutes of push ups, two minutes of sit ups, and a two mile run. For reasons that make no logical sense, I would invariably exert myself to the point of puking. Why did I subject myself to this pain? I did it because I knew that in the long run (no pun intended), I would benefit from trying my absolute best. I knew this from experience. I knew that I will be healthier, I knew that I would be stronger, I knew that I would shed unwanted excess flesh hanging around my waist, I knew that I would feel a sense of accomplishment. I still try to run regularly and it’s still painful but I do it because perhaps my wife finds me more attractive when I do (maybe I’m getting carried away here). In short, I have a long-term perspective.

Having a long-term perspective is a powerful thing. It causes us to do things that are seemingly illogical. Things like subjecting ourselves to pain in the form or exercise. It gives us the discipline to make good decisions. After all, if we have a “now-only” perspective, we would find ourselves pursuing only those things that bring us pleasure and avoid at all costs, anything that might cause us pain. The fact is, we don’t. Most of us choose to eat reasonably healthy foods, get moderate exercise at a minimum, and live a healthy lifestyle. In short, we exercise discipline in our lives because we have a long-term perspective.

So it should be with our relationship with Christ. Knowing Christ gives us an eternal perspective. This is a game-changer. Christ makes it easy for us. He promises a life with Him for eternity. We know what our purpose is…for eternity. This knowledge, this perspective, has far-reaching implications for the way we live our lives today. We are called to “run in such a way as to get the prize”. When I ran the APFT, I ran in such a way as to get the prize. I often ask myself, “do I live my life in such as way as to get the prize?” I pray for a constant reminder that my prize is a “crown that will last forever”. When I have this eternal perspective, I have discipline in my life.

Reference: 1 Corinthians 9:24-25
David Lee