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 198: The Enoch Scale

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The other day I was bouncing back and forth emails with a person who I worked with years ago and who I have recently become reacquainted. He has expressed interest in Purposed worKING, which was a pleasant surprise to me. He is a successful senior executive who has navigated his career across a number of industries and functional areas of expertise. In one of his emails to me he remarked about the need to stay focused on God first and all other second by saying, “you know, it’s so hard to do so daily with all of the things I have going on at work”. When I read this, I smiled because that is the point of Purposed worKING. Our purpose is to bring glory to God in all that we do, but if we put Him second or third or anywhere down our to-do lists, other than at the top, then we will not fulfill that purpose. Awhile back, we read about “God’s Workers”(day 52) as the men and women who were like us and toiled for their wage with worldly professions but were able to keep God first and front of mind in their endeavors. Their faithfulness was recorded over time in different parts of the Bible. We all need examples of others who were and are able to keep their busyness under check and in priority order so that we can learn and follow those examples. While it would be great to understand how Joseph or Moses managed their inbox and daily schedules, we have to take it on faith that if we keep our priorities right that God will take care of the rest. When I am drowning in emails and deadlines, and I want to put off my daily devotional and quiet time, I can be reminded that Joseph was the number two guy in all of Egypt and he still found the time to converse and stay close to God. My other benchmark is Enoch who in Genesis and Hebrews we learn that he walked so close to God that God just took him one day to be with Him. Enoch never died, he just went to be with God. How awesome would that be? And while he was on this earth, he still worked, had a family, probably had a yard and land that he tended, had friends, etc. But he walked so close to God that he was able to be in this world while not being of it. He walked above it all and never let the busyness of his work or life get in the way. Genesis 5:24 says:, “He enjoyed a close relationship with God throughout his life (365 years). Then suddenly, he disappeared, because God took him.” We all have crazy days, crazy schedules, overwhelming amounts of things to do, and places to go and people to see. But today, take a few minutes of alone time and reflect on where you are on the Enoch scale. Are you finding time to walk with God among all the things you have to do and are you trying to daily become closer to God or are you letting the tasks in front of you crowd out the One who could be most helpful? Just how close are you letting God walk to work with you today?

Reference: Genesis 5:24 (New Living Testament)