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 1283: What’s Left Unsaid

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“Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”

I wrote yesterday of what a slip of the tongue can do to bring a company and it’s founder to a low point, and in this case, the eventual ouster of the founder from the company. We must be careful with our words.  They matter and people are always listening and looking for a tweet moment. But, just as powerful are the words that we leave unsaid. A few weeks ago I was asked by the CEO of one of the Boards I sit, to talk to a senior member of the executive team who had a job offer at another company.  The CEO wanted to save the executive and so did I.  As I listened on the phone to why the executive was considering leaving, it was not about what had been said to him, it was about what hadn’t.  In sports vernacular, this executive is a “franchise player”.  We have been building the company around him with him being a key player going forward.  But, he didn’t know that.  Why?  Because we never told him.  Here’s the deal.  Those that we love the most are many times the ones that we tell that to the least.  We worry about those that we think need worry and we leave alone those who we feel are secure.  But, no one is totally secure and everyone needs to be told that they are loved.  The holiday season, the end of the fiscal and calendar year is a good time to make a list (and check it twice) that those who are important to you on your team, know it and feel your love.  

We are taught in James to control our tongue and that is right. But, we would be wrong to take this to an extreme and hold our tongue always.  God wants us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We can’t show full love if we aren’t willing to tell the person about our love for them and our love for God.  We have to share the Good News.  We can’t leave that unsaid!  This is the season where hearts are tender and people are looking for meaning and spirit in their lives.  This is the season to share and share God’s message to those we care about and love. Let’s not hold our tongue when these opportunities arise. It might be that even your words about what you plan to do over the Christmas break, when you include church, could be the words that strike the heart of another for them to find their way to church as well.  We never know, but God does and let’s trust Him with our words and tongue.

Reference:  James 3:2 (New Living Translation)