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 77: The Elevator Pitch

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In business we are all supposed to be able to boil down a proposal, a funding idea, or our objectives to no more than what it takes to travel a few floors on an elevator with someone else. The thought is if you can’t distill your idea/thoughts down to that amount of time you will lose your audience and that your audience could come to you at any moment and at any chance. There is a lot of truth in that concept. I have seen in my work life where some people are really great at this and others really struggle. Those who can do it come across with confidence and build assurance from those who are listening. It is a great skill to cultivate. During our business day we have many opportunities to also express our faith in a succinct and appropriate manner. Just this morning while completing a business breakfast when asked a question about what some of my future plans are I was able to share that I am a Christian and that I continue to pray about what it is that God wants me to do next. That took one sentence. The conversation about my faith didn’t go further than that, but the person who I was meeting now knows where I stand. I wish I could say that I had always had this level of confidence to share my faith. It was not that long ago that the words would not have rolled off of my tongue. In fact, they might not have even made it out of my mind to my mouth. We can each have our own way of expressing our faith to others but having that script in your mind that you are ready when the time is right can really help with confidence and courage. We are given many verses in the Bible that can prepare us and give us the words when we need them. That is why we are to store the word of God in our hearts and minds. The more we store the more we have to release. And then one day we are able to fulfill the challenge given to us in the parable of the lamp in Luke 8:16. Do you have your faith elevator pitch prepared and ready to go so that when the moment is right you can un-hide the words that are stored inside of you? Are there others at work who also share your faith that you can listen and draw upon their words? God gives us the moments and the chances; it is up to us to decide if we are ready. The best way to manage a chance is to be prepared.

Reference: Luke 8:16 (New Living Translation)