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 76: Break Time

purposed worKING No Comments

We all need break times at work. Most states legislate that anyone who is on the clock must take a morning break, a lunch/dinner break and an afternoon break. Even 10 minutes sometimes to sit and clear the head is a good thing. When I want to take a break I like to go outside and take a walk or just go somewhere where I can look out the window undisturbed for a few minutes. I often notice though, that even in those quiet times my mind does not slow down and while I may be quiet, I am not being still. There is a skill to being still. Being still means letting everything that is on your mind go, letting the pressure dissipate, shutting off the conversation that is running in your head, taking deep breaths to release the stress that has been building up all day long. If you can find a place of stillness then you can begin to find some peace. We are told in Psalm 46:10 to be still and silent and to know that God is God. If we want to maximize our break time and find the right mindset throughout the day, we can get there by finding the time to find stillness and silence in our minds and practice our thoughts towards knowing that God is there for us and that He is our Almighty who can do awesome things. We are in a hurry, we are in a rush, we don’t slow down to listen, appreciate the moment, or catch our breath. But we need to do so. We need to find the stillness to know that He is God. So today, on that break time, see if you can find the silence and stillness. Take a few moments today to get in that state of mind and bask in the knowledge of God. Don’t worry, the world won’t fall apart if you add these precious still minutes to your day. Instead you may find that the day comes back together and you work the rest of the day in a new spirit. That being and example of the spirit that others want for their lives.

Reference: Psalm 46:10 (New Living Testament)