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 826: More Wisdom

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“And this is what he says to all humanity: ‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.'”

“That would not be wise” seems like an easier statement to make than, “That would be wise”. We are braver to call something “not wise” as it takes experience and confidence to make the counter argument. In the business world we can watch these statements align with level and job title. At the top we hear more, “That would be wise” than we do further down the organization chart. In fact, I would go as far to say that the word “wise” probably doesn’t show up in our vocabulary until well into our careers and until we are in positions of leadership and have been around the block a few times. The same can be said for businesses and how they relate to other companies within our industry or in a broader arena. I am reading Ron Suskind’s book, “Confidence Men”, and no where better can it be seen than when the financial “masters” gathered together during the financial crisis that there were those who could use the word “wise” and others couldn’t. It’s a fascinating dynamic in business to watch. Those who confidently and credibly can use the word “wise” early in their careers are few and far between and likely, if they are humble and true to a strong set of values and principles that they will not compromise, will end up in a/the big job someday.

God cuts through it all for us and tells us His own secret by telling us what is true understanding and wisdom. I love that He bluntly tells us that true wisdom is the fear of Him and to forsake evil is real understanding. At the most foundational level it is here that we can build the platform of our lives. When we seem to be floundering or swaying, let’s return to our core and strengthen ourselves here first; with true wisdom and real understanding. From the core out comes all else. For us to be the strongest that we can be in the workplace with our work being truly purposed, the core must be strong. What better day than today to start strengthening.

Reference: Job 28:28 (New Living Testament)