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 3K359: Is It True?

“Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.”

It’s crazy how much time we spend repairing and cleaning up the mess made after someone speaks or writes something that they wish they could take back. I read that Ursula Le Guin, who was an Author, kept this saying hanging in her office as a reminder to herself before she spoke or wrote:

  • Is it true?
  • Is it necessary or at least useful?
  • Is it compassionate or at least unharmful?

How many times would things just be better in our companies or organizations if everyone followed these three simple principles?  A lot!  It might be worth thinking about printing and making a small sign with her three questions for everyone’s desk, cubicle, or wherever the laptop and/or phone reside.

Paul’s letters to the churches are filled with this type of good and practical advice and very much focus on the truth being the most important of all.  Somehow, we have decided that the truth can be arbitrary and we have gotten tired of calling out those who don’t tell us the truth.  Being keepers and accountants of the truth is part of the counter-culture of being a Believer.  We must be willing to stand for and defend the truth.  Which means also not passing along untruths ourselves!  It is what and who we are called to be.  And at the same time we can ask ourselves the above three questions before we speak or write.

Reference: Proverbs 23:23 (New Living Translation)