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 616: Added Security

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“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”

It seems that wherever you go these days there is added security. Many office buildings have always had some form of security but today they look more and more like Fort Knox. Even places that never had security before, now have added some low level protection. We have come to a place in time where we can’t trust, so we have to add on these extra layers. Unfortunately, the approach has a trickle-down effect and we all become a little more wary and insecure for fear that something could happen at any time. It has become hard to remember the days before access codes, badges, ID cards, sign in/out, etc. Where once we worked freely, today we are constantly reminded that things aren’t as secure as they may seem.

However, because we can’t trust others, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t trust at all. If we live and work with no trust at all we will find that the security barriers we build up around us will remove our approachability, cause us to be standoffish, and to be overly guarded. If we are that, then we risk losing our ability to establish relationships and also to be someone who others can reach to in time of need or friendship. We are told in 1 Corinthians to be guarded, but that is to guard our hearts from those things that remove our faith and courage. Where we need the extra security is against the areas of our lives where we are most vulnerable to fall away from our relationship with Christ. If we have that security built up then we will be safe to trust holistically and to allow ourselves to be a full person for ourselves and others. So, yes, add the extra guard, but do ensure that is only to build up the security that is from our faith.

Reference: 1 Corinthians 16:13 (New Living Testament)