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 82: A Good Night’s Sleep

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When I was growing up I was told that “the best thing between hope and despair is a good night’s sleep”. I have hung on that statement many times in my work career, especially on those days and nights when I knew that there was a big problem tomorrow to be resolved, a contentious person to deal with, a major presentation to make, or a set of difficult decisions to be made. We far too many times overlook the need for sleep as a part of how productive or inefficient we will be at work. You can see it on people’s faces as the week wears on and sleep deprivation takes over. I am sure that we all have had the same tough night before those next important days as I have; we toss and tumble, we stare at the ceiling, we fret and we worry. And before we know it the night has passed and we wake not as good or as ready for the day as we need to be. I have found myself many a time praying in the middle of the night to just ask God to give me peace to let me get the sleep I needed (at the time needed so desperately). What I find myself wanting at those times is to have a line of scripture that can be drawn upon to help me find peace and solace. We are told in Proverbs that if we have done our best at planning ahead and using our insight to think our best that we can rest assured that all will go well. Proverbs 3:24 goes on to say that if we have planned well and thought ahead with insight that, “You can lie down without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams”. We need to listen to that message and draw upon it fully. When we have done the best that we know how and we are ready as best we will ever be, then we can put our head on the pillow and let God take over from there. He wants us to rest without fear and to dream positively. Are you going through a time where the pressures and the stresses are high and you are finding that sleepless nights are the norm instead of the exception? One night will turn to two and then they start to stack up on you? See if tonight you can draw upon God’s promise and get the better night’s sleep in preparation for the next day coming. He wants us to be the best we can be.

Reference: Proverbs 3:24 (New Living Testament)