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 32: If It Comes Too Easy…

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We have all seen deals that are just too good to be true and just look too easy. It’s easy to decide if they are too good to be true or not. If they seem to be so, then the truth is that they are going to be a problem. In the United States in the late 1990’s, the mantra for those graduating from college was, “Get in, get stock options, get rich and get out”. Silicon Valley became the contemporary, “Go west, young man!” destination. And now years later we see many of those companies, unraveled and gone and many of their leaders living less than fulfilled lives and some even doing so behind bars. Why is it that we know that if something seems too easy to obtain wealth from it, that it can’t be good, but we still either romanticize the situation to becoming convincing or we are just lured right into the web? I don’t think it is because we are inherently lazy, but rather that we are opportunistic and we believe that we can make something great from anything. It is in our nature. But we need not look further than in Proverbs 13:11 for the warning to heed, “Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows.” So, if the deal or offer you hear today just seems too good to be true, put it aside and get back to work. The hard work you do day-in and day-out pays off. The wealth that is accumulated from hard work feels earned and as we know from our adolescent years, those things that are earned are more appreciated. So, the money earned from hard work will likely be more appreciated and stewarded more carefully. We should feel good about the hard work we do and allow ourselves to appreciate the earnings that come from that labor. So, be wary of that “offer of a lifetime”. It can come in the form of an investment, a presented deal negotiation term, or even a new job offer. There are no things that are good that come too easy, so be wary and listen to the Proverb when confronted with one of these opportunities.

Reference: Proverbs 13:11 (New Living Testament)