A little game this Sunday…

Lot’s of buzz right now about football.  ESPN has a full line up of commentators with tons of stats and opinions about this years Super Bowl match up between the Colts and the Saints.

Question:

If you had to bet your life on it, which commentator would you want to teach you how to throw a football?

Answer: None of them!  They don’t throw footballs for a living, they comment.

To get the best advice on throwing a football I want to get on the field with Peyton Manning or Drew Brees.  They have thrown thousands of passes under pressure and they are PLAYING in the Super Bowl.

Who are you listening to?

There are thousands of commentators in our lives.  We often give them too much credit because they’re loud, marketed, and have lots of compelling data.

We tend to put to much credit on the ‘what’ before the ‘who’.

Be aware of WHO wrote the book or blog you’re reading.  Pay attention to WHO is teaching the event you attend.  Be careful of WHO’s opinion you adopt as your own.  Whether it’s business advice, spiritual mentoring or lessons on how to be a great father, I want to learn from the guys who are on the field when the game clock starts.

Shameless Plug:

This is what I love the most about Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership event.  Dave is teaching from experience.  This is rare as far as training events go.

Shorty Awards

Here’s some legitimate reasons for why you might not want to vote for Dave Ramsey to win a shorty award:

1. If you’re like me you had no idea what a ‘shorty award‘ was until yesterday…an award for short people? Huh?
2. If someone asked for your vote without explaining what a shorty award is and why your opinion counts.  (Consider this your explanation)
3. You’re afraid this might take too long and won’t matter that much.
4. You’re not on Twitter

Here’s why I think you might want to do this despite the reasons not to:

1. If you’re not on Twitter it’s a great reason to join the conversation
2. People will probably follow you if you vote…other Dave Ramsey followers want to follow you if you’re a fan.
3. Dave Ramsey helps millions of people with the best common sense advice on personal finance out there today!
4. He’s the real deal. I’ve worked for him going on 7 years now.  I can assure you his heart and vision truly are to help people get out of debt and have a better quality of life. It’s not smoke and mirrors, it’s not magic pills, it’s just good old fashioned advice that is in YOUR best interest.
5. If Dave Ramsey wins a shorty award in the finance category then more people get helped, pay off debt, stimulate economy…everyone wins!
6. It’s a fun chance to learn what a shorty award is and find out who is engaged in the social media world
7. It doesn’t take long at all and it’s painless.

Voting ends in about an hour so jump on it quick if you want your vote to count!  Thanks for your vote!

Give like no one else

Dave Ramsey pulls out all the stops!

Last week was a good week to work for Dave Ramsey.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re all pretty dang good, but this week ushered in a spirit of giving and Christmas joy like I’ve never seen in 6 years of working here.

Most business owners wouldn’t dream of approving this ‘expense’:

• On Monday morning, Santa Claus hijacked our staff meeting and brought an entire catering crew with him.  We had a fabulous breakfast of carved ham, egg soufflés, fresh fruits, muffins and a whole spread of tasty breakfast treats
• Santa left a present under the Christmas tree for each team member (~300 and growing).  Each of us received a nice ornament and gift certificate to our selection of a few local restaurants or A Moment’s Peace day spa
• Dave rented out a local theater, shut the company down a little early on Monday, and took the whole team and their spouses to see Blind Side. (Great movie.  True story. Inspirational. Go see it.)
• Tuesday was just nuts.  To say our group is competitive would be a major understatement.  So when Dave announced there would be a prize for the department whose area best represented the Christmas spirit, it was ‘katie-bar-the-door’!  The entire placed looks like Santa’s village and the decorating festivities went completely over the top
• We had a great devotion Wednesday morning lead by Mercy Ministries founder, Nancy Alcorn, and yet another breakfast feast was to follow
• While we ate breakfast, our Director of HR, Rick Perry, gave everyone a Camelbak water bottle stuffed with gift certificates to Dick’s Sporting Goods, Fleet Feet, and movie tickets
• On Friday, Dave catered in lunch for everyone and had a local high school choir serenade us with Christmas carols while we ate
• Dave shut the company down early Friday afternoon and sent everyone home with a spiral cut Honey Baked Ham.  Mmmm.
• Saturday morning Dave rented out a movie theater AGAIN for everyone to take their kids to see The Princess and the Frog
• The week culminated on Saturday evening with our company Christmas party, and it was full of surprises, gifts, entertainment, cash, and stories that will be told all year long.  My favorite part?  Dave announced that he’s now paying for our gym memberships!

Wow!  What an awesome week and an incredible place to work.  In the midst of all of the internal giving Dave has also been giving back to our customers through our ’24 Days of Giving’ initiative.  We’re half way through it and we’ve already given away thousands of dollars, iPod touches, Amazon Kindles, and so much more!

When in doubt: Give.

Dave Ramsey is one of the most generous people I know.  I know him well enough to confidently assure anyone that his giving is sincere and is from his heart.  The added benefit to being generous to your team and your customers, though, is that they learn to trust your intent.  When your team sees that your intention is to bless others it makes them want to work with more focus and energy.  It’s easy to rally around a cause that benefits more people than just the guy at the top.  Buying from a generous organization feels better than from a corporate empire that doesn’t have a soul.

Is your company generous?

Giving doesn’t have to cost you a lot, but it needs to be intentional.  Even if you don’t have ‘Ramsey type resources’ you can still dramatically energize your team by blessing them with your time and creativity.

What is your company doing to give back this year?

Share your ideas and inspire other leaders!

What Matters Now: Get the free e-book here!

Seth Godin just released a stellar resource that compiles ideas from today’s top thinkers and leaders including one from my CEO and mentor, Dave Ramsey.  You can read this e-book for free in the viewer below or by downloading the .pdf here.

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