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 335: Firm Decisions

purposed worKING No Comments

Good decision-making is a skill. Not everyone makes the best of decisions and all of us would be really lousy at it if we didn’t have others to bounce decisions off of before we make them. I find that the worst decisions are the ones that are made without the advice and counsel of trusted advisers and counselors. I have found myself, more than ever before, telling people that they need to “pass the ball at least four times before they take a shot” (the motion offense). This means that we should get the advice and counsel from at least four other people before we make a decision. It appears harder to make good career decisions today when everything is so uncertain. If it is unclear about the security of the company, then it is very hard to have certainty about one’s own job or career. So, decisions about career and work are really hard to make right now. What is still true though is that good decision-makers are ones who when they make the decision, they stick with it, follow-through and live with the consequences and the responsibility of the decision. A decision that is not followed-through was not really a decision at all. We all get faced with these, tens of times a day, and we have to either stick with the decision or be wishy-washy and flimsy in our decision-making. We all know which type of decision-maker we would like to be, but it is clearly hard to be resolute and firm in our decisions. But, that is the example we are given over and over in the Bible; that the decisions we make, we are to stick with and not look back. There is no better example of that than in Genesis 19:17 and the story of Lot and his wife. The Angel was clear when he said; “…Don’t look back”. How many times do we know that are not to look back, but we do, because we don’t trust our decisions? Fortunately, we don’t turn into pillars of salt each time we do, but we do in some way erode our own confidence and the confidence from others when we are seen looking over our shoulders. Today, you may be facing a decision that needs to just be made. Once you have prayed over it, and received the counsel of your four trusted advisers, then make the decision with courage and don’t look back. There are other decisions that you have made that you are now waffling and wondering if you made the right decision. Again, if you prayed over the decision and received your counsel, and then you made the decision feeling like it was the best course of action, then before you go back on it, live with it for awhile and follow-through to see if the decision turns our to be right. You will never know for sure if you go back on the decision before you allow time to prove it out. Firm decision-making is not easy for anyone, but it is a skill that you can perfect. Now would be a great season to begin working on how to make better and firmer decisions. Not just for you, but for all the other people around you who look to you to be the one they can count on. It is God that puts you in the position where others look up to you and one way to be the example for them is to be one who is known for “not looking back” on decisions made.

Reference: Genesis 19:17 (New Living Testament)