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 760: Testing

purposed worKING No Comments

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

Businesses must constantly be testing to be sure that they are doing the right things. They are testing their products for quality, consistency, and safety. They are testing their service with mystery customers to ensure that they are delivering the highest service levels. They are testing their financial processes and procedures to be sure they can conform to the laws of Sarbanes-Oxley. They are testing their marketing and advertising with focus groups. They are testing their strategic plan to ensure that it holds up in the face of ever-changing economic conditions and pressures. They are testing their people for performance, productivity and results. They are constantly testing to ensure that they are focused on the right inititaitives and the right deliverables to grow the business. Testing is part and parcel of work and we get used to it. It sharpens us and it can make us better. Testing can also strengthen us so that we are ready for future problems. So, testing is a good thing for business.

But, when we are tested in our own lives, we just don’t like it. Those things that cause us to question and then have to change, we don’t like. Those tests that slow us down or make us change our ways of working or living can even make us angry. This past week, I was tested. This will end a week where I have attended three funerals/memorial services of friends and had I been able to find a way to travel, there would have been a fourth. I happened to be on the road anyway when this all started and as the events each occurred schedules changed, flights were rearranged, deadlines were missed and a physical and emotional toll was taken. Patti and I counted last night that we had stayed in six different places in the past 10 days, and as I never sleep well the first night in a new place, there were only a couple of nights of good sleep. As our flight home was stuck in Chicago last night and we ended up another night away from home, we wondered what was being tested in us. Was it patience? Was it the turning over of situations that are out of our control? Was it the reassessment of how we are spending our own precious time and the reminder that our lives on this earth are short? Was it that we are to be there for other people first, and ourselves second? Likely, because I can ask these questions, it is all of the above that are testing me/us. These are the times that we must call on God’s promises and what He gives us when we patiently endure our testing. I know I am not alone and that there are many who are going through far worse tests today. God’s promises stand for each and every one of us, no matter what the test or its difficulty.

Reference: James 1:12 (New Living Testament)