1) What is your earliest memory about money?
My earliest memory about money was around age 4. I recall emptying a coin bank and counting the pennies in preparation to take them to the bank and deposit them in my bank account. My grandmother and I took the bank apart, dumped the pennies on the table and counted them. While doing this, my grandmother was talking about the importance of putting money in the bank. I think I was a young teenager before I realized that one could actually take money out of the bank.
2) What is the core message about money you learned while in your formative (7-15) years?)
I was raised by my grandparents. They had lived through the depression and that taught them how to stretch pennies and do a lot with a little. I was taught the value of money (not to worship it) and to consider seriously any purchase and going through a deliberate thought process of was the purchase necessary and what would I do with the item that I purchased? We certainly lived what I would consider a middle class life-style, but not focused on money. We did not buy into the concept of "keeping up with the Jones" and I believe I was taught to be a good steward with money -- using it wisely. Giving to the church via a weekly offering was important as was contributing time to church activities that helped other people. Compared to my peers, I did not have the latest, greatest fads in clothing or gadgets, nor did I feel deprived in not having them. Going into debt was not something that should be done and that we should live within our means and it was important to have money in the bank.
I supposed the core message that I learned about money was that once it was spent it was gone and that it was important to make the right decisions.
3) What do you think this will mean for you as a leader?
As a leader, I tend to think and spend wisely. With my own personal budget, Iive within my means. In my professional career, I "spend" the company's money as if it is my own. I do not over inflate my budgetary requests and I return what isn't needed. In terms of T&E I travel as inexpensively as possible. As one who is responsible for a church committee budget, I take very seriously that I am responsible for the money allocated to the committee from the congregation and try to be a good steward of the money allocated to the committee.
While attempting to be a good steward, I suppose that I need to guard against reluctance to spend money. Recently, on a return commute from class, I listened to an NPR discussion with a professional fund raiser who argued that you needed to spend money in order to raise money. It was thought provoking but certainly not my natural reaction.