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 113: See The Forest

purposed worKING No Comments

It’s the beginning of the work week and what seemed like over the weekend to be a manageable and planned out week can on a Monday morning, in an instant, turn into an overwhelming stack of things in the to-do list. The more we look at the list, the more that gets added and then the more there is actually to do and before long we feel overwhelmed and begin to feel like we are drowning in it all. This is a dangerous place to find ourselves because it is in this place, way deep into the woods, that we begin to make decisions that are based more on the urgent than the important and we scramble to take the little things off of the task list while the big, chunky, critical items remain and pile up. It is in those moments that we have lost perspective and fulfill the old adage, “we can’t see the forest for the trees”. Often in these times we need to get some help. We can reach to those who we work with to delegate, ask for support, redefine or redistribute the workload. All of which are good things to do, but let’s not forget that we have a larger power with us who wants to be there at the office with us too. He wants to have His work be done in the office and will be there with us if we just allow Him to do so. Look no further than in Romans 12:12 for words to carry us through the days when we feel overwhelmed, overworked and lost in the trees: “Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying”. It is hard to be patient when we are in trouble and this verse would imply that we can’t unless we have both the confidence in the hope of what our Lord gives us and that we keep on praying into the problems and issues that we cannot handle on our own. It is not below God for us to ask Him to help us be better, more productive, more efficient and good at what we do at work. We were made to work and He wants us to be good at what we do so we can bring glory to Him in everything in our lives. So, when the forest starts to close in on you this week, take a deep breath, remember the hope that you have in Him and take a moment to rejoice and then take your to-Do list to God and let Him help you see past the big trees in front of you. Be confident because, He will!

Reference: Romans 12:12 (New Living Testament)