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 758: 99% and 1%

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“People who are at ease mock those in trouble. They give a push to people who are stumbling.”

Yesterday I wrote of seeing first-hand what Occupy Wall Street looked like. While there I could see many posters and signs that referenced that this group was the 99% and it was the 1% that they were protesting against and the gap of society that is felt between that 99% and the 1%. It made me reflect that what this group is protesting isn’t as simple or as obvious as the gap that is created because of socioeconomic reasons, but just as much, if not more, the gap that can be felt between the “haves” and the “have-nots” and the disparate treatment that can be seen between those groups. Anyone who has ever worked knows this gap inside of business. There is always a group of people who are more senior who are able to work by their own rules. In business we use that gap as a motivational tool to get people to aspire and want to someday get to that level where they get the extras. I am reflecting on whether or not that remains a good practice or not. Of course, there is nothing wrong with looking up and seeing the rewards and the recognition that can come from hard work and achievement. It is the different rules part that has me thinking. Something as simple as the boss not having to abide by the vacation policy that she/he created but others in the company having to count and ration their vacation days, can set a wrong tone and enhance the “percentage” gap.

Sometimes, as a believer I feel caught in between. I know that part of what God desires for us is to be able to utilize and call upon our talents and resources and for that to be brought to bear against our work and what we are put into the world to do day-in and day-out. He does not want us to just sit back and not give it our all. But, I also know, from all that I read in God’s Word that we are to be those who lead others in compassion and the assistance of those who can’t or don’t have, by no fault of their own. This is where we can span the gap and be one’s who others look to as playing by one set of rules and being the opposite of what Job spoke about in his response to Zophar. Ours is to never mock, never to cause others to stumble, instead to lift up and not push down. It is heavy stuff and many times hard to reconcile what to do, but here is the point, if we listen carefully to what God would have us do, we can know. It’s that voice inside while we pray, it’s the words from the Bible that make the greatest impact and impression, it’s the opportunities that allow us to share what we believe, it’s the wise words from the strong believer who we speak. Inside of all of that is what God desires us to do and the part He wants us to play to be not a “percentage”, but a probability and promise for His Kingdom.

Reference: Job 12:5 (New Living Testament)