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 1299: Hanging Onto The Past

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“This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.”

We never know what from the past will show up in the present.  And when it does, all bets are off as to the reaction.  Sometimes this will be astonishment, amazement and wonder.  Other times the past will dredge up memories that still sting and hurt and cause even greater resentment.  And the past can also be a ho-hum as we have moved forward so far that we can’t truly recognize and appreciate what it must have been like back then.  On December 31st this story was published about the discovery of  a blue color referenced in the Old Testament.  You can read about this blue dye here.  Why does this matter to our businesses?  In business we many forget the past and once a few people have have moved on, we have no recollection of shared learning of what we had already discovered in the past that could be relevant today.  We don’t keep “archives” like a museum or repository.  But, that doesn’t mean we should ignore our pasts.  Our pasts can be rich with knowledge and treasures, that if we pay attention towards, might well open up the insights we need for the future.

Many times in our spiritual lives we are taught to put the past behind us and move forward.  That is correct when our past is what holds us back spiritually.  But, our past can also be very valuable to others if we are just willing to share it openly.  We each have cataloged a set of experiences that if we were to keep in context of our present and future would be lessons for those around us.  These lessons can come from both our success and our failure.  When we open up with others about our past there is a humanity that comes through that gives us the opportunity to share what really drives us forward.  God’s message is one that is rooted in the past, given to us in the present, and full of a future of promise.  Why wouldn’t we want to share all that He has done for us?

Reference: Colossians 1:26 (New Living Translation)