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 2950: Alacrity

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“When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”

What a gift to work with people and companies who go about their work with alacrity.  If you don’t know the word, it means, “brisk and cheerful readiness”.  And yes, I want to be a person known for my own alacrity.  But, it’s not really that easy is it? Even readiness, right now, is hard to claim as we still aren’t sure what to be ready for next.  And then to be brisk about it?  And cheerful?  Without a doubt, it is hard to have alacrity, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to be so, for soon it might be that those with alacrity are the ones who are on the forefront of the opportunities soon to arise.

Jesus seems so serious in how the scriptures capture Him.  And without a doubt, He was.  But, I often try and read His words to hear something else in His tone.  And when I do so, sometimes, I smile.  Jesus attracted thousands, multitudes, of people when He spoke.  I guess we can imagine that He stood for hours being only serious and that caught the rapt attention of people who were sitting for the same hours outside on a hillside with no chairs or food.  Maybe only the Son of God could do that.  But is it possible that Jesus also had a sense of alacrity to Him?  As He would get up early daily, rustle up the Disciples (who seemed to love to sleep), I think on some days He might have gotten them going with the promise that it was going to be a great day and a cheerful encouragement!  I can even read the verse in Luke to be that after the Disciples woke Him with their cries of help that after a sharp rebuke to the winds and waves, He might have had a smile on His face towards them as he asked the question, “Where is your faith?”.  Now, I could have it all wrong too and that Jesus was all seriousness, all the time.  But if I am created in the image of The Father, then my appreciation for humor and alacrity had to come from someplace.  Let’s put it this way.  There are many ways for us to “be” so that we show the love of God to others.  Might not a little brisk and cheerful readiness towards others help today?

Reference:  Luke 8: 24-25 (New Living Translation)