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 143: Who Has The Authority Here?

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The title of this post sounds like something out of cop show doesn’t it? It is the classic line when the detective shows up on the scene and there is the skirmish about who has jurisdiction the local guys or the Feds. It’s almost so cliche now in TV and films that you see it coming. The same thing happens at work. A crisis occurs or a problem needs to be solved and after lots of people have run to their corners to hide, there is a group of people who step forward and say, “I’m in charge here” (now that sounds like Alexander Haig doesn’t it?) or “I can fix this problem”. Then there is the work skirmish about who is really in charge and who has authority or not. Many times these decision will fall along the lines of who is most senior, etc. but there are lots of times when peers are chosen to lead, fix, solve, or analyze because they bring their own personal “authority” to bear on a situation. The person’s own commitment level, interest, passion and credibility will be the determination of authority. Sometimes authority is given like when Jesus called His disciples in Matthew 10:1: “Jesus called his twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority…” Even then, Jesus taught them the lessons they needed to know to be able to travel the land and carry that authority with them. The people who gain authority are the ones who earn that authority. Authors David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen write, “Those who are in true positions of leadership demonstrate authority, spiritual power, and credibility by their lives and message. If they don’t, they are not true leaders.” The alignment of who we say we are and who we really are in how we act and speak, are the rites to earning true authority. Today, you are going to be asked to have an opinion, or to make a decision, or to stand up and act aligned with something you have said or believe. That moment of choice is another step in the authority building for yourself…or not. As you face these moments, know that God has called you, like His disciples for you to have the authority of Him. It is then up to you to decide to live within that calling or not. Let today be a day of consistency, alignment and authority building for you.

Reference: Matthew 10:1 (New Living Testament)