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 1023: T.H.I.N.K. – Part Five: Kindness

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“The LORD is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness.”

The past weeks were filled with news about what happens when an email or communication is discovered that turns out to reveal actions and behaviors that are deceptive, dishonest and unseemly. It’s worth taking a few Purposed worKING posts to remind ourselves of how we should conduct ourselves with electronic communication.  There are no secrets in the digital age and so we must T.H.I.N.K. before we act, write or speak.

And now the final post on T.H.I.N.K-ing before we write or post anything digitally.  The “K” in THINK stands for “Kindness”.  So easy, but so hard to remember.  We’ve not spent a lot of time on the exposure points or dangers of what can happen with that email, text, or post that we think is secret or won’t travel beyond the person who it was intended to reach, but by now we have all slipped and with even an honest mistake of  “Reply All” we’ve put ourselves in harm’s way. The point of this five part series is to THINK before we write and to get in the discipline and habit of never writing or posting something that doesn’t fit into one of the five THINK categories. Very big problems can get created from very small words. We are watching right now a number of labor and management problems in well known companies and when you get underneath some of them, there are communications that one side or the other so wish they hadn’t made, or could pull back; that had someone thought (used THINK) before they shot off that email or statement that maybe they wouldn’t be in the mess they are in today.  Can you recall a time in your business when you wish you or someone else would have not communicated and sent the message that went out?  Of course, you can.  And, if any company or person inside of a company is communicating and sending messages that they shouldn’t be with someone else, well that is only playing with fire and gasoline.  The better path is always to THINK, know that are no secrets, everything is stored forever somewhere, and with that go about your business with nothing to hide, head held high and always THINK-ing!

As believers we should be able manage our kindness for as we know this is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that He wants to flow through us.  But, as I said above, it’s not always easy.  I have been sitting on an email from a friend for a while now that can’t be responded to without finding a way to be kind. Without doing so I run the risk of losing this friend.  I actually don’t think I deserved the original email but it was on one of those topics that tend to polarize people and I actually don’t think he meant all of what he said, but that’s not his problem.  My response is my responsibility and if I don’t THINK throughout my communication then I am not living to the example of Jesus.  Using the THINK filter is not always easy but here is what I know more than anything else:  God will help all of us THINK is we only ask Him to make this a part of who we are.  Today, please reflect on this series and see if God has not been worKING in you and bringing new thoughts to you on how you communicate with others?  I suspect He is doing more work in you than you recognize.

Reference: Psalm 145:17 (New Living Translation)