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 702: Look Of The Leader

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“David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the Ark, and also the singers, and Kenaniah the choir leader. David was also wearing a priestly garment.”

This past week I was reviewing video interviews for a senior position and I was surprised at how, even in this day and age, I was influenced a bit by the candidates who went to the extra trouble to put on a shirt and tie for the interviews. It could be that we are used to seeing those in positions of of influence and authority who come to us over a screen, still wearing coat and tie, or at least a tie. Whatever, it reminded me of the importance of establishing and taking on the look of the leader if we are to establish a level of credibility and confidence in our customers and partners. I remember a time when one of the people on my staff said that they didn’t really want to see me come to work in shorts and tee-shirts. I asked why and he said, “We need to see you as a different than us sometimes, just to remind us…” I didn’t understand that at the time, but I understand it more today as I look for leaders to inspire confidence and assurance in difficult times. The look of the leader is situational, but it is real and each leader should think about not only how they dress, but how they carry themselves, what they say, and how they treat others. Yes, of this is about the look of the leader.

God calls us to put on our garment of praise, bear the fruits of his spirit and to walk in His footsteps. Jesus had the look of the leader. People left what they were doing to follow Him. It wasn’t about the robes or kingly linens that King David wore, it was likely the opposite in what Jesus wore. What we know is that Jesus exuded a spirit about Him that others wanted to drop what they were doing to listen to him. It was His spirit. This is the spirit that He has left behind for us to embody and do our best to be like. God has given each of us our chance to be a leader for Him. Are we taking on the look of the leader, or are we not paying enough attention to the words that we speak, the actions that we take, the treatment of others, the attitude that we approach each day with? Let us look hard at ourselves today and find the look of the leader, the look of Him!

Reference: 1 Chronicles 15:26-28 (New Living Testament)