I was reminded recently of the term “social climbing”. This is the term that refers to being someone who maneuvers to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people to be able to gain the attention of those who are in higher social ranking, with the hope that we will be pulled up and into that group strata. When put this way it seems pretty superficial and our minds immediately go to socialites or celebrity circles as the people who do this. The fact is that we all do it at one time or another and the place where it happens the most is in the office. Whether consciously, or subconsciously, we try and find our way to the group or people who are most like us but at the same time can assist or help us in our work and to help us move up the ladder. It’s hard to see but every organization has this informal ladder that people are constantly moving up and down upon. What is ironic is that all of the people who are only paying attention to those who are above and ahead of them usually do not end up being the people who become the most successful. That is using the word successful with a capital “S”. The people in our jobs who we remember and who we respect most are the people who may have still have ambitions but are people who pay attention to everyone on the ladder, no matter how far below. Jesus was our greatest role model on this front. Where did he spend His time and attention? It was not with the rulers, it was with the working people. Who were His Disciples? Not, rulers and important people, they were the working-class far down on the ladder. Today, there is someone in the office who needs your attention and who needs to be seen, known and recognized. Can you find that one person and say hello and strike a conversation and pay your attention to them today? The rewards are many if we direct our attention down the ladder as much, if not more, than up the ladder.
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.