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 1110: Moving To Bcc

purposed worKING No Comments

“My wise men and enchanters have tried to read the words on the wall and tell me their meaning, but they cannot do it.”

In the last year or so there has been something new that we do to each other online; we move others to the blind copy line so that those who are going to be corresponding back and forth don’t fill our email in-boxes with their emails.  This most happens when we are making introductions or thanking someone for the introduction made.  Dropping or moving someone to the bcc line is supposed to be considered an act of kindness and courtesy, but there must be something else about it because I always feel a little twinge of bad when I move someone, not knowing if they really desire to be moved or not.  I can say the same when I get moved.  I am glad that I am spared the emails, but I always feel like I might be missing out on something and that I am being excluded.  All of this is irrational of course, but it reminds me that what may look obvious and accepted can be misinterpreted or create other emotions than what is expected.  We are served well to be sure that we have a very good understanding of what the outcome will be of each of your actions both the obvious and the not so obvious.

I get concerned when we cavalierly treat each other or disregard their feelings because these actions can be taken much more seriously than we expect and create a sense of hurt that is hard to repair.  There are two parts to this challenge; one, is we don’t want be the ones creating the situation and two, when on the receiving end, we want to be sure and be forgiving to the offense.  Which is harder?  Hard to say, but they both create impressions and lead others to not see a reflection of Christ that they would want to follow. And, we have to pay attention to the small things we do as well.  If moving someone to the bcc line could cause a misunderstanding then anything can. And or course, the workplace is full of these minefields.  So, let’s be careful out there and think twice before we act.

Reference: Daniel 5:15 (New Living Translation)