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 498: Walking In The Shadows

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As the dog days of summer fade and fall is starting, we still find ourselves on the hot days looking for shade and shadows to find cool and respite. The same can happen to us at work when things start heating up. The shade we find at the office is usually the shadows of the leaders that we can tuck ourselves within to relieve the heat. We each cast a shadow too that others will be looking to find so that they can find cover from us. How we manage our shadows, which means how we conduct ourselves, how we behave and how we treat other people. Yes, our shadows are how we role model and how we set examples. Our shadows create a shade for others that they then decide what and how they are supposed to do their work and their jobs. It is a very large responsibility that we each have, whether or not we know or like it. This past week a popular football player for the NFL’s New York Jets cast a shadow with a mistake he made away from the football field. He now carries the responsibility to ensure that others who are his co-workers, his fans and the youth who look up to him, understand that this is a shadow that he is not proud and would not want others to follow. We all fail, but we must pay attention to the shadow that we cast. We also should be sure that we are evaluating and watching the shadows that we walk into and behind. The shadows that we step into will never be pure or perfect. There is only one shadow that we can truly count on; “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”Consider today the shadows that you are walking under and the shadows that you are casting.

Reference: Psalm 36:7 (New Living Testament)