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 801: Rejection

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“For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!”

I was walking down the street in San Francisco behind a young guy who was having a conversation on his phone. I didn’t need to know who he was or what he was talking about to understand the conversation. I have had that conversation myself many, many times and I have been on the other side of the call just as many times. I heard the guy say into his phone, “Okay, I understand. I’m disappointed for sure but there are a lot of smart people who are investing money into this space and I am just sorry that you are not one of them. We will keep you up to date on how we are doing and if we need further funding I will be sure and let you know before we go back out for more fundraising.” This is the life of the entrepreneur or a businessperson. Rejection is part of the deal. If we can’t accept the rejection that comes with trying to raise funds, close deals, make sales, get partners, etc. then we probably shouldn’t be in the business. The key is how to take rejection and have it make us stronger, more resilient and more committed.

Rejection can make us stronger. We’ve just got to see it that way. If we allow rejection to get us down or to callous us to our compassion and understanding of others then we aren’t looking at what we have been given in the right way. Who can not stand in awe of the rejection that Jesus took for each one of us and then persevered through something that none of us will have to endure, all for the goodness on the other side, for us. As we go through the daily rejections of life and especially in our workplaces, let’s consider that how we handle and accept those rejections is a reflection to others on how we are modeling the life of Christ, or not. It’s something to think about seriously.

Reference: Romans 11:15 (New Living Testament)