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 2923: Who Is Eating With Whom?

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“This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!“

I know it seems silly, but a lot has been learned over time from who is seen eating with whom.  It’s not just who is with whom at The Four Seasons Restaurant in NYC or Bucks in Woodside, etc.  It’s long been a watched activity at any company cafeteria observing who sits with whom for a meal.  It’s over a meal that we have made deals, solidified relationships, ended arguments.  And now, we don’t eat with anyone but ourselves, maybe in front of a screen without anyone else watching. Who is eating with whom is a “cue” that is gone right now.  But, we can be sure that when we are back together again soon, we will be waiting and watching to see who goes to lunch with whom.

Jesus got called out by the Pharisees for eating with sinners and tax collectors.  The Pharisees and teachers were watching and even then, the sharing of a meal was a marker of what was accepted and not accepted for certain people.  It’s not a coincidence that in our own country at one time people of different skin colors could not eat together in public.  That Jesus broke the norms and barriers is another reason why I love who He was when He was on the earth.  He was not afraid to sit down with whomever wanted to sit with Him.  And, it’s a great reminder for us too that if we had found ourselves in our own regular cliques for lunch that when we go back, it is time to take in others who whom we normally wouldn’t sit down and share time and a meal.  If Jesus could model it then we can do our best to follow His example.

Reference:  Luke 15: 2 (New Living Translation)