Stephen Covey authored the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to offer his expert, professional, and personal insight of seven habits, or traits, exhibited by effective people. While outlining the seven habits, he emphasizes that each previous habit is the building block for the next. He also shows how all the habits are tied together to effectively transition through the growth stages of dependence to independence to interdependence to become an effective person.
The Habits
Covey explains that the following seven habits are exhibited by effective people.
Be proactive
Begin with the end in mind
Put first things first
Think win/win
Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Synergize
Sharpen the saw
Practicing these seven habits will move the reader through three stages of personal growth: dependence, independence, and interdependence. We are all born into the dependence paradigm. As babies and children, we must rely on others to take care of us. As we get older, we naturally undergo a paradigm shift to independence in which we begin to take care of ourselves and no longer rely on anyone to take care of us. Interdependence, the last and final stage, is yet another paradigm shift in which we work closely, and cooperate, with others to achieve the things that could not be achieved on our own. Covey states that by simply changing our behaviors we will be more successful in achieving interdependence.
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Habit 1: Be Proactive
The first three habits focus on obtaining private victory, or making change within yourself, to achieve independence from dependence. The first habit to begin this transition is to be proactive. Highly effective people do not resign to the fact that there is nothing they can do about a problem or situation. Effective people institute change with what they have the power to influence, and they feel that they can influence almost everything.
Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind
In order to institute change, utilizing the proactive habit, people have to know what the change is for and what the ultimate goal is. The end, or the goal, has to be defined in the beginning. The end goal is what you must work toward. You have to understand what you want to accomplish, before you can figure out how to accomplish it. Covey says the most effective way to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement based on personal principles.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
In order to achieve your goal you have to ensure that you put first things first. The goal has already been determined with habit two, “beginning with the end in mind.” If you have not done this yet, habit three is useless. If you have already established your goal and personal mission statement, then practicing habit three assists you in staying on track to achieve the end goal. Putting first things first is referring to tasks that must be accomplished to contribute to your vision. Although other things must be attended to, do the tasks that are important and urgent to contribute to the goal.
By successfully putting together habits one through three, according to Covey, you will have successfully completed a paradigm shift and moved from a dependent stage to an independent stage.
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
The next achievement is to transition from independence to interdependence. In order to do this, you have to successfully employ three additional habits to gain “public victory” and interdependence starting with habit four, “think win/win.” Thinking win/win is to find a resolution to a problem that is beneficial to all parties. By employing a win/win habit, does not necessarily mean a resolution is a compromised solution, rather there was a solution that could be employed that is beneficial to both sides.
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Habit 5: Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood
Naturally people try to be understood when engaged in a conversation. When both people are trying to be understood during a dialogue instead of understanding first, the conversation is falling upon deaf ears. As people, we mostly listen to a person with intent to answer. We do not emphatically listen to the other person and try to really understand what they are feeling and what their viewpoint is. If we begin to truly understand people when we are engaged in a conversation, they will notice this and begin to open up even more.
Habit 6: Synergize
Synergy, by definition, is when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (Merriam – Webster 1997).
To synergize is to work closely and cooperate with others to find a creative, non-compromising solution that is equally beneficial to all parties. This is very closely related to the “think win/win” habit. When you communicate synergistically, you are opening your eyes, heart, and mind to new options, ideas, and thoughts. By doing so, you will foster win/win situations, as well as, satisfy habit two, “begin with the end in mind,” because the end is a win/win situation.
By employing habits four through six, Covey says public victory will have been achieved and the paradigm shift from independence to interdependence will have been made. However, there is one last habit to employ: habit seven, “sharpen the saw.”
Habit 7: Sharpen The Saw
To “sharpen the saw” is referring to keeping yourself sharp. In other words, you are the saw. It is a cycle of renewal to become better, keener, and more effective. In order to accomplish this, Covey breaks the cycle of renewal down into four dimensions: Physical, Mental, Social/Emotional, and Spiritual. He has established exercises to follow to keep these dimensions sharp, ranging from physical activity to formal education to searching and finding your spiritual connection.
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Self Reflection
I feel that I already exhibit some of these habits, although not all of them. One of the habits that stands out to me as being the most effective is habit five – to understand then try to be understood. However, I fall into the typical type of communication, or non-communication, by listening with the intent of responding. In other words, I am formulating a response while the other person is still speaking. Although these habits are to be formed in sequential order as they are dependent on each other, I will start trying to understand the other person first and then try to be understood. Of all the habits, I think habit five is the most important and beneficial if you are unable to form any of the other habits.
Summary
This book was written with the intent of giving people insight to the habits of effective people. This is invaluable insight on how to reach out to people, by first reaching within yourself, to find out who you really are
and what you want. In addition to explaining the habits, he provides those behaviors, actions, and accomplishments that will be affected.
References
Covey, Stephen R. (2004).
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Free Press.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (1997).
Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
