Book Review: "Entreleadership" by Dave Ramsey

Dave absolutely knocks the topics in this book right out of the ballpark. Entreleadership is a wonderful piece that touches on: self run businesses, staying motivated, how to deal with people, self-priorities and of course good old fashioned common sense that isn’t so common anymore. Now while on paper I do not own my own business, I like to think that for the duration of my life I am self-employed running Rob Inc., and even from this perspective there is so much to learn and gain from the book.

You definitely do not need formal business training or education to understand the content of this book, but I’ve always thought that formalized training ruins your ability to apply common sense. The intrinsic values and practices that can be implemented in your daily life without question perked me up in my outlook at my career. A big driving point is establishing your own goals, dreams and visions and putting together an action plan to make those things happen. For me this lead to a very uncomfortable but much needed look in the mirror.

Dave spends a good deal of time and indirect mention to being an “employee” versus being a “team member.” Every single example and discreet allusion without question brought to surface that at my places of employment I have been an employee and not a team member. Everything about my professional record shows, reflects and conveys corporation. I mentioned in an earlier post that a goal of mine is to be a valued and motivated team member for a company that I would be pumped up working for day in and day out. Dave Ramsey says J that this happens when a specific set of stars are aligned that creates an unbreakable synergy. A big portion of that is when your personal and the company’s values are in sync.

Am I enthused about the company I work for? Do we share the same values? Is the culture corporate or do they encourage Entreleaders? Would I use the products and services of the company I work for, or better yet, recommend and advise my closest friends and families to use them? These were just a few of the internal thoughts that ran through my mind while reading “Entreleadership.” I should have had these run through my mind decades ago, but like everything else I’ll avoid the pity party and go forward with the new outlook I have. I am already planning where my values are and what types of companies and the products/services they offer will be in sync on some of the most important values to me. See, this is exactly what I love about Ramsey. His ideas are thought provoking and challenge you to take actionable steps that are proven and not theory, to achieve success.