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 923: The Boardroom

purposed worKING No Comments

“And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

The first time we are allowed into the Boardroom is a momentous time as for the first time we are exposed to how the business operates at the highest level of decision making.  I still remember my first time and what I walked away with was some shock at how the group was really no different than any other team who fought, persuaded each other, argued, passively aggravated, agreed, spoke, complained, praised, and joked like any other group that we might work with at our own level of the company.  Gosh, they were just like the rest of us.  But, I also remember being in awe of a few people in the room who were amazingly smart and laser focused in their thinking and communication.  I immediately looked to these people and thought, “That is what I want to be like when I sit in their chairs someday.  While we are all the same, there are certain individuals who can create that awe when you are in their presence. Every Boardroom should have a few of these people if we are to have a Board that the rest of the Company aspires and wants to follow.

When Jesus calmed the storm, His Disciples, men who knew Jesus well were in “awe” of Him. What an experience for these men to have been in the presence of Jesus in such an environment where they could be in real-time awe.  It’s easy to get jaded in business and life and lose the sensitivity to be awed.  But, with Jesus there is always a reason to be in awe of Him.  He is inviting us today into His boardroom and wants us to sit at the table with Him and be in full awe of His power and what he can do within our lives.  What boardroom are paying most attention to today?  Is it the one down the hall or on the top floor of our building, or the one that is in God’s Kingdom?

Reference:  Mark 4:41