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 1278: Bold. Well-Timed and Smart!

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“I publicly proclaim bold promises. I do not whisper obscurities in some dark corner.”
 
Read anything about “delivery drones” in the past 48 hours?  Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and his PR team knew what they were doing when they gave Charlie Rose and 60 Minutes a sneak preview of the Amazon Delivery Drones.  Not only has it been on the tongue (and cheek) of every conversation and in every written periodical and broadcast news program, but already UPS had unveiled that they too have been working on their own delivery drones.  I have this vision of a World War II like air dogfights between the drones of FedEx, UPS and Amazon.  Snoopy and the Red Baron, where are you now?  Okay, back to reality.  What Jeff Bezos did on Sunday night was nothing short of brilliant.  He cornered a large and influential TV show.  He waxed on about “the future” as the competitor and threat, not companies like Amazon, and then he took us all into the double-secret room and showed us his remote-controlled helicopter.  And, America and the world gasped and marveled.  Brilliant!  When you are going to be bold, consider that when and how you do it is just as important as what you reveal.  Amazon got it right.  A standard press release, or in this case even a Tweet or a Vine would not have caused as much excitement and conversation as the 60 Minute piece and the orchestration of the announcement.  Well done Jeff.  We can all take a page of learning from this one!
God expects us to be just as bold with our faith as we can be with the innovative product or the new discovery.  But, He also gives us the strategic minds to know when and how to share our faith.  Let me be very clear here as I know this could come across as controversial, which is not my intent.  First, I believe with all my heart that God can work in the lives of others through us, even when we share about Him in the worst of of timing or situations.  That means, that yes, He can soften and convict someone’s soul from the bullhorn message on the street corner.  But, He can also move, and will move, when we use the wisdom and knowledge we have to share His Good News in times that others are more ready than not.  We can be bold in our words and our actions and He will protect us.  What I also am sure is that God appreciates when we allow him to move within us in the ways and places that He desires.  I am moved when people share their faith publicly in places that others consider bold for it have been done.  I am also moved by the person who share their faith boldly with their best friend, their family member, or their roommate. One size does not fit all in sharing God’s love.  Sharing in full authenticity and in the timing that can make the greatest impact is in itself boldly using the talents that God has given us.
Reference: Isaiah 45:19 (New Living Translation)