Dave Ramsey has built a company that provides financial advice via seminars, a radio broadcast, a podcast, and numerous books.
His 2011 book "Entreleadership" is not about personal finance; but about what it takes to build and run a company. Ramsey coined the title word, combining "entrepreneur" and "leader" because he believes that one must embrace both roles in order to successfully build a small company.
He supports most of his advice with anecdotes from his own successes and failures as he grew his company.
The message running through this book is that a company is a team. As such, employees should be treated as team members; and the boss should think of himself as a leader; and you should hire candidates with a passion for what you are building, rather than those just looking for a job.
He talks about setting priorities: identify and perform the tasks that are important and urgent before turning to those that are important/not urgent or urgent/not important. Skip those that are neither important nor urgent.
He talks about the importance of a leader's ability to make a decision.
He talks about the importance of trust: "People will not buy from you if they don’t trust you, your product, and your company."
He talks about communication: it is important for a leader to share their goals with their team members, so they can make intelligent decisions.
He talks about debt, which he advises against - a philosophy I apply to my personal finances.
Much of Ramsey's thinking is based on his relationship with God. As a practicing Evangelical Christian, he looks to the Bible to lead him in his daily activities, including his business activities.
I was unfamiliar with Ramsey before reading this book.
I don't think I could work for him, primarily because he requires everyone in the company to spend their day at their desk in the office - a lifestyle I rejected years ago; and also because the following passage gave me pause: "privacy isn't a big deal to people who are living a clean life and doing the right thing."
But the book contains a lot of practical, common-sense advice, delivered in a straightforward manner.