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 3K294: Worked To Death (Annual good Friday Post)

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It’s a common phrase to hear someone say, “I am working myself to death”. There was a time that in the United States, and still in other places around the world, that the phrase could be more of a statement of fact versus just a phrase to exaggerate how hard one is working in their job. Today, there are still people who work too much and too hard to the point of physical distress and danger, but for the most part we don’t put our lives at risk or die because of our physical or mental exertion at work. Before I go further, I do give great admiration to those who go beyond work to serve us and our country for security, protection, rescue and war and in particular those who were/are on the frontline of the Covid-19 crisis as healthcare workers and in the earliest of those dark days, grocery and food workers and delivery people. Some do in fact put their lives on the line each day and to them we should each be extraordinarily grateful.

Considered in totality, for most of us to make the statement that we are being “worked to death”, is vastly overstated. It is a mindset and an attitude that can come across as very self-centered and overly emotionally based. It can also drag other people down around us. When we feel this way and before we express this emotion we should stop and remember that no matter how bad we have it that there was One who went before us who really did work Himself to His death. He knew that this was His purpose and He did it for us. Before Easter, let’s read together Phil Keaggy’s lyrics from the song “Maker of the Universe” and reflect on the commitment and love that was given for us. Think about what it truly means for one who was so precious to have truly worked Himself to death.

“The Maker of the universe,
As Man for man was made a curse.
The claims of Law which He had made,
Unto the uttermost He paid.
His holy fingers made the bough,
Which grew the thorns that crowned His brow.
The nails that pierced His hands were mined
In secret places He designed.

He made the forest whence there sprung
The tree on which His body hung.
He died upon a cross of wood,
Yet made the hill on which it stood.
The sky that darkened o’er His head,
By Him above the earth was spread.
The sun that hid from Him it’s face
By His decree was poised in space.

The spear which spilled His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God.
The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hands had made.
The throne on which He now appears
Was His for everlasting years.
But a new glory crowns His brow
And every knee to Him shall bow.”

May we each take time today on this Good Friday to remember and reflect on Jesus and then have a blessed celebration on Easter for the One who died and then rose!