Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People

By Stephan Covey

The Habits:

  • Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Vision
  • Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Leadership
  • Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Personal Management
  • Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Interpersonal Leadership
  • Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Empathetic Communication
  • Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Communication

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

Criticism

Critics of Covey's methods contend that the author offers a "quick-fix" that dissipates when measured against the reality of day-to-day life. When confronted with situations that contain elements that are outside the realm of their personal influence, those imbued with Covey's summary of accountability can become frustrated at the "habits'" failure to place situations within that personal "circle of influence". In short, Covey is sometimes said to preach impractical, idealistic methods. Some of the examples in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People are clearly aimed at/designed for/relevant to a corporate executive than (for example) a single mother working two low-wage jobs, which limits the broad applicability of the book and system.
Advocates of Covey's methods point out that the author consistently opposes "quick-fix" solutions to life or business problems and insists that changes in paradigm or mindset to align with natural principles are the true source of solutions. Covey points out, for example, that the paradigm that produces short term results in business inevitably leads to an inability to produce results for the long term. He calls this "killing the golden goose." The most effective mindset for the business person is to balance short and long term productive capacities.
A Principled Approach

Throughout the book Covey points to principles as the focus. The book presents the principles as an approach rather than a set of behaviors. The book imparts the principles in four sections.

  • Paradigms and Principles. Here, Covey introduces the basic foundation for the creation of the habits.
  • Private Victory. Here, Covey introduces the first three habits intended to take a person from dependence to independence, or one's ability to be self-reliant.
  • Public Victory. Here, Covey introduces habits four through six which are intended to lead to interdependence, the ability to align one's needs and desires with those of other people and create effective relationships.

Renewal. Here, Covey introduces the final habit which directs the reader to begin a process of self-improvement. Such as Ally Gazdacko

The Seven Habits

A chapter is dedicated to each of the habits, which are represented by the following imperatives:

  • Be Proactive. Here, Covey emphasizes the original sense of the term "proactive" as coined by Victor Frankl. Being "proactive" means taking responsibility for everything in life, rather than blaming other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Initiative, and taking action will then follow.
  • Begin with the End in Mind. This chapter is about setting long-term goals based on "true-north principles". Covey recommends to formulate a "personal mission statement" to document one's perception of one's own purpose in life. He sees visualization as an important tool to develop this. He also deals with organizational mission statements, which he claims to be more effective if developed and supported by all members of an organization, rather than being prescribed.
  • Put First Things First. Here, Covey describes a framework for prioritizing work that is aimed at long-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear to be urgent, but are in fact less important. Delegation is presented as an important part of time management. Successful delegation, according to Covey, focuses on results and benchmarks that are to be agreed in advance, rather than on prescribing detailed work plans.
  • Think Win/Win describes an attitude whereby mutually beneficial solutions are sought, that satisfy the needs of oneself as well as others, or, in the case of a conflict, both parties involved.
  • Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. Covey warns that giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in that advice being rejected. Thoroughly listening to another person's concerns instead of reading out your own autobiography is purported to increase the chance of establishing a working communication.
  • Synergize describes a way of working in teams. Apply effective problem solving. Apply collaborative decision making. Value differences. Build on divergent strengths. Leverage creative collaboration. Embrace and leverage innovation. It is put forth that, when this is pursued as a habit, the result of the teamwork will exceed the sum of what each of the members could have achieved on their own. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.?

Sharpen the saw focuses on balanced self-renewal. Regaining what Covey calls "productive capacity" by engaging in carefully selected recreational activities

Criticism

Critics claim Covey over-intellectualizes management philosophy.
Other critics point out the profound difference in the world since The Seven Habits was first published in 1989 and dispute the relevance of the habits in today’s technological society. However, Covey persists that the habits remain as fundamental as ever, since he believes the concepts to be timeless truths.

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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. It has sold over 15 million copies in thirty-eight languages since first publication, which was marked by the release of a 15th anniversary edition in 2004. The book lists seven principles that, if established as habits, are supposed to help a person achieve true interdependent "effectiveness". Covey argues this is achieved by aligning oneself to what he calls "true north"; principles of a character ethic that, unlike values, he believes to be universal and timeless.
The book was enormously popular, and catapulted Covey into lucrative public-speaking appearances and workshops. He has also written a number of sequels and spinoffs, such as Power of the Seven Habits; Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families; and Beyond the Seven Habits. A sequel to The Seven Habits is published in 2004, ISBN 0-684-84665-9. Also, Sean Covey (Stephen's son) has written a version for teens: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. This version simplifies the 7 Habits for younger readers to better understand them. Sean Covey has also recently published a book called "The 6 most important decisions you will ever make, A guide for teens" that highlights pinpoint times in the life of a teen and gives quality advice on how to deal with them.
A course based on The Seven Habits is offered at the United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. [1]
A Principled Approach
Throughout the book Covey points to principles as the focus. The book presents the principles as an approach rather than a set of behaviors. The book imparts the principles in four sections.
  • Paradigms and Principles. Here, Covey introduces the basic foundation for the creation of the habits.
  • Private Victory. Here, Covey introduces the first three habits intended to take a person from dependence to independence, or one's ability to be self-reliant.
  • Public Victory. Here, Covey introduces habits four through six which are intended to lead to interdependence, the ability to align one's needs and desires with those of other people and create effective relationships.
  • Renewal. Here, Covey introduces the final habit which directs the reader to begin a process of self-improvement. Such as Ally Gazdacko.
The Seven Habits
A chapter is dedicated to each of the habits, which are represented by the following imperatives:
  • Be Proactive. Here, Covey emphasizes the original sense of the term "proactive" as coined by Victor Frankl. Being "proactive" means taking responsibility for everything in life, rather than blaming other people and circumstances for obstacles or problems. Initiative, and taking action will then follow.
  • Begin with the End in Mind. This chapter is about setting long-term goals based on "true-north principles". Covey recommends to formulate a "personal mission statement" to document one's perception of one's own purpose in life. He sees visualization as an important tool to develop this. He also deals with organizational mission statements, which he claims to be more effective if developed and supported by all members of an organization, rather than being prescribed.
  • Put First Things First. Here, Covey describes a framework for prioritizing work that is aimed at long-term goals, at the expense of tasks that appear to be urgent, but are in fact less important. Delegation is presented as an important part of time management. Successful delegation, according to Covey, focuses on results and benchmarks that are to be agreed in advance, rather than on prescribing detailed work plans.
  • Think Win/Win describes an attitude whereby mutually beneficial solutions are sought, that satisfy the needs of oneself as well as others, or, in the case of a conflict, both parties involved.
  • Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. Covey warns that giving out advice before having empathetically understood a person and their situation will likely result in that advice being rejected. Thoroughly listening to another person's concerns instead of reading out your own autobiography is purported to increase the chance of establishing a working communication.
  • Synergize describes a way of working in teams. Apply effective problem solving. Apply collaborative decision making. Value differences. Build on divergent strengths. Leverage creative collaboration. Embrace and leverage innovation. It is put forth that, when this is pursued as a habit, the result of the teamwork will exceed the sum of what each of the members could have achieved on their own. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.?
  • Sharpen the saw focuses on balanced self-renewal. Regaining what Covey calls "productive capacity" by engaging in carefully selected recreational activities.
Criticism
Critics claim Covey over-intellectualizes management philosophy.
Other critics point out the profound difference in the world since The Seven Habits was first published in 1989 and dispute the relevance of the habits in today’s technological society. However, Covey persists that the habits remain as fundamental as ever, since he believes the concepts to be timeless truths.
Analogous Books
  • Principle Centered Leadership, published in 1992 (ISBN 0-671-79280-6).
  • First Things First, co-authored with Roger and Rebecca Merrill, published in 1994 (ISBN 0-684-80203-1).
  • Living the Seven Habits, published in 2000 (ISBN 0-684-85716-2).
  • , published in 2004 (ISBN 0-684-84665-9).
External links
  • Complete article detailing each of the habits
  • Information on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Coaching

Habit 1 - Be Proactive

Be ProactiveBegin With The End in MindPut First Things FirstThink Win-WinSeek First To UnderstandSynergizeSharpen The SawThe 8th Habit

The first of the 7 Habits is - BeProactive. It is perhaps a great compliment to Stephen Covey that today, the substance of this first habit is deeply embedded into the management psyche. We are told, in business, that we should be proactive; and broadly what is meant by that is to focus our efforts and attention on the long-term and to think in terms of the long-term consequences of our actions.

Covey contrasts being proactive or having a proactive mentality with being reactive. Reactive people, he says, are those who are resigned to the truth that whatever they do in the present can have no effect on their circumstances. And interestingly, for reactive people, it really is a truth, for whatever we believe in our heart affects our thoughts, words and actions. If we really believe that we can do nothing about our unreasonable boss or the daily events in our lives, then we simply do not make the effort.

Proactive people, on the other hand, simply will not accept that there is nothing that can be done about the unreasonable boss or the events of daily life - they will point out that there are always choices. It is by the decisions we make, our responses to people, events and circumstances that proactive people can and do affect the future. We may have no control over what life throws at us but we always have a choice about how we are to respond.

Now this notion that having a particular attitude of mind (which is really where this habit begins) can make such a huge and positive difference to almost everything we experience in life is foreign to those who have already internalised the opposite habit as a part of their personalities. For some people, the glass is always half-empty and the feeling of melancholy is a pleasant reminder that something is indeed missing. For such people, this habit represents a bitter pill to swallow - but, says Covey, it is also completely liberating.

When we are finally prepared to accept full responsibility for the effects that are manifest in our lives; when we have the strength of character to admit it when we make mistakes (even big ones); when we are completely free to exercise the options available to us in every situation; then it can be said that we have finally internalised this habit. The other six of the habitsrequire that we first work on our basic character by becoming proactive and thereby transforming ourselves into men and women of integrity.

Habit 2 - Begin with the End in Mind

Be ProactiveBegin With The End in MindPut First Things FirstThink Win-WinSeek First To UnderstandSynergizeSharpen The SawThe 8th Habit

The second of the habitsis - Begin with the End in Mind. Many people in the west identify with the frustration of success. Being successful at their chosen career and committed to its progress they come to realise that it does not, in the final analysis, bring any sense of real satisfaction. The reason for this ultimate dissatisfaction is that they did not begin with the end in mind. For many people, it is not just that they did not begin with the end in mind; it goes a bit deeper - they did not ever get around to defining the end itself and so they simply could not begin with the end in mind. So what does all this mean? The end represents the purpose of your life. Until you can say what that purpose is, with assurance, then you just cannot direct your life in the manner that would bring you the greatest satisfaction.

There are no short-cuts here. To engage in this habit, you need to have a dream, define your own vision and get into the practice of setting goals which will allow you to make measurable progress toward the dream. If you practice a faith, then you will want to consider how this affects your purpose in life; if you do not, you will still need to get involved in deep self-examination to find out exactly what it is that will bring you fulfilment. To help you with this, you may wish to obtain my E-Book The Deepest Desire of Your Heart; available from this site. The book contains some excellent self-reflection exercises you can use to focus your mind on what is most important to you in life.

Until you have defined your vision - the big dream to which you will be working - you will be unable to move on to habit 3 which provides a basic framework for you to re-align your efforts so that you will ultimately achieve your heart's desire.

Habit 3 - First Things First

Be ProactiveBegin With The End in MindPut First Things FirstThink Win-WinSeek First To UnderstandSynergizeSharpen The SawThe 8th Habit

The third habit is - First Thing First. Following the amazing popularity of his work on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey published a second book that deals with the 7 Habits; and the title of that book is also First Things First. Both the book and this habit deal with subject of managing your time effectively.

Consider the simple 2 x 2 matrix shown below. It plots the concepts of urgency and importance against each other; and represents where you are spending your time. To really understand and apply this habit, you need to have first done habit 2 - that is, you should already have defined what is important to you. Without first doing this, habit 3 has no power because you simply cannot separate what is important from what is not important.

This representation shows four categories of demand which may be made on your time. Quadrant 1 consists of activities which are both urgent and important - in other words, things to which you absolutely must attend. Why must you do these things? Because they are important - meaning that they contribute to your mission; and they are urgent - meaning that they have some sort of deadline associated with them.

Choices about where to invest your time really are made in the other categories; and most people - driven by the concept of urgency - get drawn into Quadrant 3; doing things that consume their time but do not contribute to their goals. Highly Effective People (yes they all fit together you see) understand that the high leverage activities are all Quadrant 2 - important but not urgent. Planning, preparation, prevention, relationship-building, reading, improving your professional knowledge and exercise are all examples of Quadrant 2 activity - not an exhaustive list, by any means.