Erin Peterson's Book Review of "EntreLeadership"

Erin Peterson

ADPR5910

Lariscy

March 1, 2012

Ramsey, Dave. Entreleadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches. New York: Howard, 2011. Print.

“EntreLeadership” Review

Summary:

“EntreLeadership,” by Dave Ramsey, is a very personal and innovative guide to managing any sort of business with the attitude and spirit of an “EntreLeader.” Ramsey, a successful entrepreneur who has grown his small business into a very large and profitable corporation, shares his many successes and failures associated with running his company. He teaches the reader how to embody the passion, drive, and willingness to serve others that has molded him and others into the “EntreLeaders” that they are today.

“The Lampo Group, Inc. is providing biblically based, commonsense education and empowerment which gives HOPE to everyone from the financially secure to the financially distressed,” is the mission statement with which Ramsey bases his entire business and managerial strategies. His Christian beliefs and morals are the foundation to his approach towards himself, his business employees, better known as “team members,” and his business. He then creates goals and objectives on top of the statement that guide him in working with others to achieve specific tasks throughout his day. An “EntreLeader” creates goals that epitomize the passion and ambition that he or she has for that particular business.

After Ramsey introduces the goals that he has made for his company, he then provides a guideline into every aspect of business and how these goals tie into certain decisions that he has made along the way. He shares many examples of the choices that have and haven’t worked for him and what he would have done differently. Some examples include his insight into time management, marketing, hiring, firing and how to inspire “team members” to also become “EntreLeaders.” Overall, Ramsey’s book is a very unique guide to becoming the influential and passionate leader that will motivate others to help pilot a business team into the success that was imagined in the creation of the mission statement.

Analysis:

Many of the strategies within “EntreLeadership” reflect a combination of management theories. Ramsey’s insistence on working with and inspiring others reflect the basics behind theories such as collaborative management, the human relations movement and the Hawthorne studies. A profound idea embedded within each of these theories is the belief that employees are actually humans and should be treated as such. A leader must work together with his or her team members, bring out their inner creativity and drive, and work collaboratively in pursuing a common goal.

On a more specific level, one of Ramsey’s more significant leadership guidelines from a public relations perspective includes “The Map to the Party: Grasping the Undeniable Relationship Between Great Communication and Great Companies.” The section outlines how an “EntreLeader” actually inspires his business team members in communicating his vision, passion and drive with them in everything from office memos to annual reports. This section is very important to a PR professional because it includes how a leader communicates inspiration internally to the employees as well as externally to the customers. If “EntreLeaders” and PR professionals consistently embody and communicate the ideals behind “EntreLeadership,” then team members and customers will follow.

Recommendation:

Overall, although the book didn’t exactly teach me how to lead and was very redundant in its reminders about how “EntreLeaders” inspire others, it did convince me of the importance of a positive attitude. It proved to me that a team is much stronger when every member is passionate about the work. A business is more successful when the customers actually believe in the product or service. A PR professional must be able to embrace and communicate the spirit of “EntreLeadership” to become more inspirational and effective in his or her work. Therefore, I definitely recommend Ramsey’s book. I believe that it is an important perspective to consider in today’s world of continuously changing business models, new modes of communication and the growing necessity to be constantly innovating and open to new ideas.