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 1389: The Ordained Walk

purposed worKING No Comments

While I am on a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago (St. James Way) in Spain, I have 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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Having control over our lives I think is a natural human instinct. No one like’s living a claustrophobic life where we can not control our environment or mostly what environment we live in. So we walk and fight for control over where we go and what we do. We find ourselves fighting to shape our worlds to meet our personal objectives when we should remember we are not in the outcome business all by ourselves.


Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom.  We adore you as being in control of everything.  Riches and honor come from you alone, and you are the Ruler of all mankind; your hand controls power and might, and it is at your discretion that men are made great and given strength. (1 Chronicles 29: 11-12, TLB)


I spend about half my time wrestling the steering wheel out of God’s hands and the other half digging my truck out of the mud as a result. My disposition can at times be so terrible and I find myself so fearful. I forget that this is God’s Kingdom that I live in and it’s by His hand that I am made great and given strength and so much more. When I just lay down my sword, hand over control and rest in the knowledge that he is in control, I am so happy, peaceful and courageous. When I recognize where I come from, where I am currently and where I am going are all at the great discretion of God I start to see real victory in my life.


I believe that the walk Rusty is on today is an ordained walk. I think the walk we are on is in the same way ordained. My hope is that we will let God lead us and that we all rest in the fact that this is His World and He decides.  


Mike Mayeux
CEO, Novotus