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 81: Chairman of the Board

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I was on the phone a few weeks ago with a friend and business leader who left the corporate world to start his own business. He has been very successful and has been strong in his faith and has built his company on faithful tenants and foundation. While I was on the phone with him he made a very astute statement when he said to me, “we have to all remember that we report to the ultimate Board (of Directors)”. I have been reminded of this a few times since that phone call as I talk to others who struggle with their bosses and the lack of direction that they sometimes receive. We can’t depend on the people around us to be consistent and faithful. People will never be such. Not because they don’t want to be, but just because we all have our own responsibilities that we can’t always be there for others. That is where God takes over. At work we don’t always realize how much we depend on others to prop us up and support us. We don’t always recognize and appreciate this until it is taken away or lost. Many are going through that loss right now as layoffs continue to grow daily. This should remind us to remember that God is the ultimate Chairman of the Board. He does not waiver in His support or direction. He is consistent in His approach and He is the ultimate balancer and distribution of work loads. We can be reassured of this in Hebrews 12:2, knowing that He is not only our Chairman but He is more importantly our champion. We are told, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.”

Reference: Hebrews 12:2 (New Living Testament)