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 1306: Too Big For Their Britches?

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“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” 

I’m not going to mention the name of the band, but here in LA for GRAMMY week, I was a part of an event where the band was signed to perform and along with the performance, they were committed to doing some media, pictures, and mingling with the donors who so generously underwrote the event for a great cause.  What happened at the 11th hour was the band decided they wouldn’t do anything other than perform.  Even before the show went on, we had a sour taste in our mouths about them.  Before the show I ran into them in a hallway.  They all walked with their heads down, avoiding eye contact so to not be noticed (or that was their schtick).  When they performed, they were just as detached from the audience, never engaging or recognizing their fans who had bought tickets to be there. If you have any experience with music artists, or any type of performing artist, and yes, even high-profile business people, this is called the “too big for their britches syndrome”.  On one hand, you might say, “Well why not?” And you go on, “These guys can’t live normal lives as they are recognized and pawed on for autographs and photographs at every turn.”  Here is why not.  As Julius Caesar said, “Fame is fleeting.”  When fame turns to pride, artists and all of us lose our way.  When we think we are above the rest then we are already on our way to sliding down the other side.  This band, are here today, but they will more than likely not be gone tomorrow.  And, I will guarantee this, when they are in the later years of life and walking through an airport, they will love the person who walks up to them and says, “I was a fan of yours”.  These guys missed the opportunity for life-long engagement last night.  Had they acted in the opposite, I would be writing a much different post this morning of an example of giving, gratitude and accessibility. 

As believers we can never get bigger than our britches because God gave so much for us that it should be impossible to have pride.  But, we do and do you know where it shows up the most?  In our work! Like the band members talked about above, they are just doing their jobs, but think they should be above it all.  We see it all the time and work brings out the worst in us.  Maybe it is because of the recognition, status, pay and rewards that work can provide, but whatever it is, we are susceptible and can become willing participants before we know it is happening. Consider today if there is anything in your workday where pride, ego, or recognition are the drivers of an action?  If influenced in any way to not take the phone call, return the email, walk down the hall and talk/meet outside or your office, go on that customer call, or just finish a conversation that needs to be completed, then today would be an awesome day to remove that pride and resize those britches. Those britches are not in God’s style or in the wardrobe He has for us.

Reference: Proverbs 16:18 (New Living Translation)