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 753: Beyond A Request

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“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

When we get a “request” at the office, it isn’t usually just a request as much as it is a veiled directive. “I’d like to ask you to join me”, isn’t really an “ask” in a way that leave a way out, it’s more of a direction that is being given with a hint of politeness. “Would you be willing…..?” is also the same. “Of course, I am willing” is the answer that is expected, not, “Uhm, I don’t think I am willing.” I’m not trying to make work out to be a place that isn’t full of choices and opportunities to express our feelings and out wishes, but for the most part work is not a place of democracy. It is more a dictatorship, with the hope that the dictator has some benevolence. This can easily be masked in consensus and collaboration if the leader has those skills, but at the end of the day, someone has to make the final decision and it’s usually the most senior person in the room. So, when we are “requested” to step up, take on, do more, then we should consider that the request has already been well vetted and by the time it comes to us we need to think really hard about any other answer other than “yes”.

There are many ways to look at how God calls each of us. Yes, He is always there for our acceptance and He never backs away from us, but we can also take His words and hear in them that He does not want His requests to be ignored. What I find so great about God is that He is always requesting us, for our good, not His. What more does He need? He is challenging us to grow and come closer to Him because He wants the best from us. No better verse says this to me than Matthew 11:28, when He says, “Come to me”. He didn’t choose to say, “If you need, come to me”, or “If you’d like, come to me”. He said, “Come”! God’s Word to us is beyond a request and if we are being faithful to Him we will recognize this and follow His commands. What are you hearing from Him today? Is there something that He is saying about how you should be working or treating those around you at work differently? Listen for the request today and then take the action that we know He wants us to take.

Reference: Matthew 11:28