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 165: Passion

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One of the words we hear when we hire and evaluate people is the word “passion”. We want to work around and with people who have and show passion about their work, about their job and about their company. When someone is passionate about something it is contagious and we can see others beginning to rally and follow the person who shows the “fire in the belly”. It is a great trait to have and we all could stand to take a look at ourselves and be sure that we are expressing (or have) passion for the work we do. If we don’t then we probably need to evaluate what it is that could create passion within us about our work. Even things we might not totally like to do, we can go after with passion and enthusiasm. There are certain tasks that none of us like to do but it is important that we perform them with passion that others can see. The other side of passion though can also create behaviors that are not so desirable. Many times people who are overly passionate about what they do are quick to anger and express emotions that are not becoming. With this I paint a delicate balance for anyone to achieve. We don’t want to be ones who are either too quick to speak, or lose our temper, or allow words and actions to come from us that show that we are not in control of who we are. So, how to find that balance between passion and the other side? James gives us straight forward direction in James 1:19 on how to ensure that our passion does not tip to the dark side: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: you must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” Passionate people are usually the first to speak and because they get so excited or invested in their point of view, they are not great listeners. Regardless if we have a problem with our tempers or not, we can still take in the great direction with James’ principle of how to help us work successfully by taking in the words on how to first listen and then slow down and think before we speak. And if we are overly passionate, then the lesson is even that more important. Today, practice the skills that James provides. You may be amazed at what you learn about yourself and how others react and respond to you. Don’t lose your passion….just be sure that it is always in check.

Reference: James 1:19 (New Living Testament)