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 580: The Downfall From Pride

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We work really hard over the years to get to the top of our game and then something can happen that tears it all down, potentially in an instant. Rome was built over generations but it burned within days. We read about those in our business sphere who get to the top only to tumble quickly and not be heard of again. What is this fault that causes the greatest to fall? It is pride. Pride is defined as: “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.” Yes, an inordinate high opinion of ourselves is the pride that can lead to our downfall. The day we begin to think we are the best boss, the best teacher, the best doctor, the best recruiter, the best teammate, the best salesperson, the best student, or the smartest thinker, etc., we open ourselves up to the downfall of pride. If we think we are the best then there is no one else to learn from or listen to for advice or counsel. If we think we are the best then we think we are untouchable and we do things that are thought of by others as too far-reaching or over the top. Pride is a dangerous attitude. In the books of the Chronicles, we read over and over of the Kings who fell because they became prideful and stopped listening to God. Uzziah was a prime example; “But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall.” Have we become too prideful of what we do in our jobs? Have we let our pride squeeze away others from being able to talk to us and tell us what it really looks like? Have we let our pride get in the way of listening to God? Today, would be a good day to check our pride at the door and see what we hear and see differently. Let’s not let ourselves become another statistic as one who fell because of pride.

Reference: 2 Chronicles 26:16 (New Living Testament)