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 378: Posters and Placards

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I once went into an executives office and I kid you not, from ceiling to floor all around the room was one inspirational poster and placard after another. It was like a gallery of pictures and positive messages. I couldn’t imagine that this person could ever have a bad day with all of those posters, some framed, some not, all speaking to whoever would read them. It’s not unusual to see these inspirational sayings in cubicles, offices and on the walls of corporate America. If not generic pictures and poems, then the company will have come up with their own statements to create motivation. When rallied and aligned around these messages an organization can become unified emotionally. So, when used correctly posters and placards to trigger cues for behavior can be really good for people. If we are leading teams we can create our own sayings and symbols to keep a vision or a mission front and center. Of course any of these are only as good as the commitment and follow through behind the message. Those companies who say one thing and do another would be better off not saying anything at all. The same is true with those messages and symbols that we set forward to describe ourselves to others. These are fine if we live up to them and we don’t act in an opposite and contradictory manner. We can follow how God placed His symbol in the sky to remind us of Him and His promise that He gave Noah in Genesis 9:16; “When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every creature on earth.” Today as you see one of these inspirational posters or sayings, take a look at them and ask yourself, “Am I living up to this or what could I be doing better and different to do so?” The more consistent we are with the messages we use to define ourselves the more consistent we will come across to others, which gives us much more credibility with others at work. And once we establish that credibility then many will be interested in hearing what is your purpose.

Reference: Genesis 9:16 (New Living Testament)