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 2397: Nicknames

“James and John (the sons of Zebedee, but Jesus nicknamed them “Sons of Thunder”)”

There is something adoring about positive nicknames.  When someone is given a nickname it typically means they have reached a place of closeness that they have earned with the person who bestows it upon them.  Just look around and see who has been given nicknames by their bosses and leaders and you can begin to see those who are in the inner circle or in favor. It’s not always true, but in many cases it is because someone earned it, and more importantly, are also humble enough to accept it.  Let me state clearly though, derogatory nicknames are wrong. Giving someone a nickname to demean them, disparage or to cast them in some way that disadvantages them is bullying and hurtful  So, we should be cognizant of what we are doing to someone’s self-esteem before we bestow any nickname, even if we think it is being done admiringly.

Personally, I want to know Jesus well enough that one day He might share with me the nickname that He created for me.  If James and John could be given one, then why can’t we?  Here though is today’s question to ponder: What would we want that nickname to be and are we living to it?

Reference:  Mark 3:17 (New Living Translation)