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 1072: Lying Around, Part 2: “White Lies”

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“I must know one thing,” the king replied, “and tell me the truth.”…

Businessweek ran a story in last week’s edition titled, ” – “The Lies We Tell at Work :Why dishonesty thrives at the office” by reporter Christopher Bonanos. Part of his story has a side window that details a number of places and times when it is okay to tell a lie.  These came from David Wescott’s drawing from Janine Driver, author of “You Can’t Lie to Me” and Carol Kinsey Goman, author of a new book titled, “The Truth About Lies in the Workplace”.  The sidebar says that in these areas that “workplace dishonesty is the best policy”:

  • You have to discuss appearance
  • You hope to avoid injury
  • You hate kids (talking about bring your kids to work day)
  • You’re negotiating a salary
  • You’re terrified of your boss
  • You’re leaving the company

Really? I am in no way dismissing that “white lies” are not a tacitly accepted way of work, but that doesn’t make it right. Companies that accept less than the truth, even at the smallest levels and think that wink-wink is okay to take care of a difficult conversation, or smoothing over the discomfort that comes from confronting conflict will find themselves with a culture where the line moves further and further away from telling the truth.  Companies that don’t tell the truth to each other miss the opportunities to make better decisions and to avoid mistakes and sidesteps. It’s harder to find examples of companies who speak the truth consistently and at all costs culturally, but they are there and they are worth emulating.  Can we even honestly say to ourselves that we hold our companies and our people accountable for full and transparent truth and not accepting even a “white lie”.

Please know I write this as guilty as anyone in this area.  The “white-lie” is so easy to manufacture and say that they can become part of our daily conversations.  A good test for me is that when confronted with that moment, if the words that come in our minds are the easy ones to say, then they should be checked before saying them.  The truth is usually in the uncomfortable and come with a moment that needs thoughtful consideration.  It is in that moment that we can’t take the easy way out.  A “white-lie” is not “white” to God and not to others who see right through them. Our example to others and our purpose to bring glory to God in our work is too important and critical to allow a “white lie” to tarnish or ruin the work that God wants to do through us.

Reference: 2 Samuel 14:8 (New Living Translation)