Catalyst - Dave Ramsey

I didn't forget!  Here is the post I promised about Dave Ramsey's talk at Catalyst.  Last year he spoke, as one would expect, about finances.  This year, however, he shared how he runs his business.  His primary theory, understandably, is that you must achieve unity to be an effective organization.  He listed the following as the five main enemies of unity: poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreements, lack of shared purpose, sanctioned incompetence.  Here are a few of his main points:

• A successful leader develops and maintains a culture in which negatives are handed up (to the people who can fix them) and positives are handed down (to the people responsible for making the good things happen).  
• Christianity should demonstrate extreme levels of excellence.
• By definition, gossip is when a negative is discussed with anyone who can't help solve the problem.
• A little confrontation cleanses the wound and allows the parties to go forward in a spirit of unity.
• When you are aware there are hurt feelings and/or disagreements, act quickly and decisively.  If you are indecisive, you are not a leader.
• Sanctioned incompetence demoralizes.
• For the sake of unity in the entire group, the leader must go to battle early and often with any of these enemies of unity.
• When unity is valued in the culture, the team will also act to keep these enemies from the gate.

Basically, Dave Ramsey is totally hard core.  If you are caught gossiping in the office, you get one warning, and if it happens again, you are fired.  He can't be accused of not being a leader though, and it seems his staff is made aware of his vision beforehand.  

Much of this also applies to me as the leader in my classroom.  I often have a hard time being as strict as Ramsey appears to be, but if I allow one student to do his/her work halfway, the others will likely follow.  It is our job as leaders in the church, schools, the business world, etc. to create cultures of excellence and unity.  

Incidentally, if our country followed Dave Ramsey's simple financial advice (If you don't have it, don't spend it), we would not be in this mess of an economy.  

Up next: Craig Groeschel.