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 619: When Yes Means Yes

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“My yes means yes because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, never wavers between yes and no.”

I’ve written before that I think one of the worst phrases spoken in business is, “I don’t disagree.” I wish that when we heard that we would all push back on the person saying it and ask, “So, you agree, is that what you are saying?” Not being strong enough to say “yes” or “no” is not the sign of a decisive and confident person or a leader. Leaders say “yes” when they mean it and “no” when they disagree. And best, if they are undecided, then they are confident enough in themselves that they can say so and then go seek new information or data to help them make the decision. Those who flip-flop back and forth from yes to no to yes again only add confusion into a situation and ultimately hurt their own reputation and standing with their peers and bosses. In times of stress and turmoil, we don’t need wishy-washy decisions. We need firm and convicted yeses or no’s. Those who build that reputation are the ones who will move up and become counted on for more.

As we strive to bring glory to God in our work, as our purpose, we will be well served to follow Paul’s example on being decisive. Paul rebukes those that criticized him for changing his mind. He does not say that we can’t change our mind, when we haven’t yet made up our mind, but he makes it clear that when we say yes, we need to stick with it and be like the example of Christ who never wavered between yes and no. In this time we live in it is hard to be firmly in a yes or a no camp as the pull to change is great. Today, know what is yes and what is no and stick with the decision. Be firm if you have to, it’s okay. At the end of a day where you stick with the decision made, you will have been more of a shining example than you know.

Reference: 2 Corinthians 1:17-19 (New Living Testament)