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 3K128: Who Has The Influence?

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“When the religious leaders heard this story, they knew it was aimed at them. They wanted to arrest Jesus and put him in jail, but, intimidated by public opinion, they held back. Most people held him to be a prophet of God.”

Who has the real influence is a great question to ponder?  It is the whole of all of us, or is it the small number of people with power and a megaphone?  We tend to believe what that small group tells us as the way that all people think and what they think all of us desire.  But, we all know leaders in our companies and organizations around us who are “out of touch” and when they try and project their opinion on others as if they represent everyone, there is push back.  It is incumbent upon us to not speak or try and lead from a place of not understanding what everyone thinks.  We will be way more effective in our jobs if we are in touch and understand what everyone desires.

The religious leaders represented a small group of thinkers who tried to control the narrative as it related to Jesus.  Sadly, they were the ones who won over others in power so that Jesus was tried and crucified.  Yet, we know that “most people” held Jesus up one who was of God.  They might not have yet come to the fact that He was the Messiah, but maybe with more time, they would have.  It is the same today.  While we live in a very vocal and polarizing time, we should stand assured that Jesus still remains who He is for us and others, a Savior.  And, if we remain steadfast in our belief, love of others and love of Him, we will see that He remains the most important influence over everything and all people.

Reference:  Matthew 21: 45-46 (The Message)