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 7: Decent and True, part 2

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Paul says in Romans 13:13 that “we should be decent and true in all we do, so that everyone can approve of our behavior”. When was the last time you were untruthful at work? Be really honest with yourself. Was it that little fib about the return phone call that hadn’t made yet but it was easier to just say, “I left them a voicemail and haven’t heard back yet?” Or that you said you have already met with someone when you aren’t going to see them until tomorrow or next week? Or maybe it is that extra $10 on your expense report that you went ahead and expensed it because you feel like you deserved it after all? Work is full of opportunities to shade, distort, or just flat out lie about the truth. Look, we all do it to one degree or another and sometimes it never catches up with us, or so it seems it doesn’t. However, I am convinced that the corporate malfeasance we see today didn’t just start at the CEO or Director level. If someone is being dishonest, as we have seen with stock option backdating, they certainly have been at it before with smaller incidents, got away with it, and then pushed the line further and further. There are lots of people who will say that business (or work) is not black and white but in the gray. It is true that wherever there is room for interpretation that a decision must be made as to what is honest and truthful and what is not. But because the line is not clear does not mean the line is not there. And we all get to choose many times, every day. What I know is that if you want your behavior to be approved by everyone, then you are to be truthful and decent. If you are not, then you may be approved by some, but not by everyone. And do you know for sure who will matter for that next promotion or job assignment? I tend to believe that to gain everything you desire in your work life, you will want, and do better, to be approved by everyone. And, that 100% approval rating can come to you through a purity of truthfulness.

Reference: Romans 13:13 (New Living Testament)