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 1362: Service Wow!


“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I was so fortunate to have been able to attend four days of The Masters this past weekend in Augusta, Georgia.  I have been to lots of events, but nothing like this.  Beyond the beauty, the majesty and the tradition, the customer service at the event (for 200,000 people) was beyond anything I had ever experienced.  No matter where you went, what you did, or who you interacted with, every bit of how it could be the best for an attendee has been thought through and is executed upon daily. They have it right, and anyone who wants to send someone in their organization someplace to get their minds wrapped around how to deliver a service wow, should be working on how to get that person a ticket to next year’s Master Tournament. 

What also happened to me while in the midst of all that great service was that I found myself wanting to emulate the same in how I treated other attendees.  And, with the way that each person was respectful to others property, space and goings about, proved to me that we can co-exist in a much more accommodating and serving way.  I was reminded more than once that our example in how we treat and serve others is a Christ-like example.  When everyone is acting in an attitude of service, it is obvious and the opposite stands out distinctly.  When we live out our actions with a heart and attitude of service, it stands out just as much and others will take notice.

Reference: Matthew 20:28 (New Living Translation)