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 1318: Embarrassing

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“All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you. They will be embarrassed at their feeble power. They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them.”

After his Superbowl loss, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning was asked if he was embarrassed by their loss.  He had this to say in response to that question:

“It’s not embarrassing at all. I would never use that word…’embarrassing’ is an insulting word.” 

Seldom are we asked in our jobs if we are “embarrassed” by our performance, but it can happen when we totally mess up something that we had responsibility to deliver.  But, while we might be disappointed, frustrated or upset, if we have done our very best, as Manning was saying about his team’s performance, then we should never be embarrassed.

We need to be vigilant and steadfast in our faith so that don’t do anything that would cause others to question what it is that we profess.  God can’t be embarrassed, but we need to be overly cautious that we never damage the example of what God has done for each of us.  It’s so easy to lose our way that we have to be disciplined to stay in God’s Word, in prayer and fellowship. And then we must be careful that we don’t put ourselves in positions where our weaknesses can be played upon. I was having a conversation with a friend who has been put in tough and questionable business situation.  He knows what is right and what is wrong.  I reminded him that how we he addresses the situation will have a huge impact on his reputation and how others view him going forward. Any of ours ability to positively impact others will come down so many times to how we conduct ourselves in the toughest of times.

Reference: Micah 7:16 (New Living Translation)