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 302: Not Who You Think…

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In business we have become conditioned to think that it is with the people at the top that the best things happen. The press and the media always profile the CEO and Board Members but rarely are the rank and file or front line employees profiled, talked about or given the spotlight. I appreciate the CEOs who go out of their way to make sure that it is their employees who get the credit when the credit is due. But too many people try and take the credit and we when we see that happening there is a resentment than can build up and an attitude within the company that no matter who does what that the person at the top of the organization chart will take the credit. When this infiltrates the culture it is nearly impossible to remove it going forward. What is also scary is that this can sneak up on companies and because leaders don’t see it, they may never know it is there, but the employees do. Any of us who are in leadership positions or who are even thought of as leaders on the team of our peers, need to be very sensitive and cognizant of not allowing ourselves to fall into the trap of taking credit. Amazing things are happening to all kinds of people in the company and sometimes even the most fascinating and exciting things can happen to those in the most unlikely positions. It is this time of year when we study the Christmas story. It is made clear to us that the most lowly of the least desired jobs were the first to be told of the birth of Jesus and see him in the manger. The shepherds who were just out doing their jobs in the middle of the night were chosen to be the ones to go and find Jesus. How come the angels were not sent to Kings, CEOs, and people in important positions? Because, God was telling us once again that He is there for us all and He can’t see organization charts, hierarchies, or amounts on W-2s. The angels revealed themselves and the birth of Jesus to the right people, because as we read in Luke Chapter 2, they were frightened and amazed. I only wish I could have heard their first hand account of that night. I suspect that any King or CEO listening to their stories wished they had been able to have been there. This week as you work, remember it is not who we think who has the most amazing things happen to them. Take a moment to recognize those who may feel like they get left out or forgotten. One word of encouragement and thanks this week could make a difference and they may well see your faith and belief coming through your words and actions.

Reference: Luke Chapter 2 (New Living Testament)