Despite
being published at the end of eighties, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People” of Stephen R. Covey is a book that means more now than ever especially
because it reminds us of the importance of having principles, which will bring beneficial
results in the long term, in a world always rushing, stressful, desperate for
what is immediate, quick, and easy.
Principles are the very base foundation of everything and, for sure of the 7 habits of highly effective people. Covey defined them as “guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value” (p.35).
Following an inside-out approach “to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self – with your paradigms, your character, and your motives” (pp. 42 e 43), even because the private victories precede the public ones, the author divided the 7 habits into: habits that let us make our way from dependence to independence representing our private victories, which is the case of the habits 1,2 and 3; and habits that are part of our public victories in which we, being truly independent, can be interdependent in relation with others, case of the habits 4,5 and 6. The habit 7 integrates all the others.
In this
sense, the 1st habit is related to proactivity, which means being responsible
to take initiative and make things happen. Differently from the reactive
people, proactive focus on the circle of influence – what they can control –
and try to find a solution.
The 2nd
habit is “begin with the end in mind”. To achieve this, we should understand
our destination, asking and answering, “what really matters to us?”. Without
underestimate the power of imagination, we should invest firstly in mental
creation (principles and values) and then in the physical creation of things. This
habit is about (personal) leadership, and it comes before management, which is the
second creation and subject of the next habit, answering the question “what?”.
The 3rd
habit is “put first things first” and I believe it is one of the most difficult
to put in practice nowadays (due to the need of make everything to yesterday
and everything being urgent). It is about effective management, organizing and executing
around priorities. The advice of Convey is to follow a four key activities
approach: identifying key activities, selecting goals, scheduling, daily
adapting. Above all because this habit is directly related with management that
is a bottom-line focus (in contrast with leadership, which deals with the top
line and has to come first) and should answer to “how?”.
“Think
win-win” is the 4th habit, part of the interdependent reality, and
the most advantageous paradigm of human interaction. The author proposes a
four-step process to achieve it: “First, see the problem from the other point
of view. Really seek to understand and to give expression to the needs and
concerns of the other party as well as or better than they can themselves. Second,
identify the key issues and concerns (not positions) involved. Third, determine
what results constitute a fully acceptable solution. And fourth, identify
possible new options to achieve these results.” (p.265).
“Seek
first to understand, then to be understood” is the 5th habit and the
“key to effective communication” (p.275), in which Covey underlines the role of
listening with ears and heart, something better known as empathic listening.
“Synergize”
is the 6th habit, considered by the author as “the essence of
principle-centered-leadership”, which “means that the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts” (p.308) and the differences are valuable – to be respected,
to build strengths, to compensate weaknesses (p.309).
The 7th
habit, the last one, is “sharpen the saw”, having as main goal to preserve and enhance
the greatest asset that we have: ourselves! Four are the dimensions involved in
this habit: a physical, a mental, a social/emotional and a spiritual one; all
of them are important and deserve our attention.
As a
matter of fact, Covey defines the habit as “the intersection of knowledge,
skill and desire”, corresponding the knowledge to “what to do and
why”, the skill to “how to do”, and the desire to the” want to do”
(p.47).
All the
book follows this way of thinking and acting/behaving - what to do and why, how
to do, and the want to do – and it is structured in four parts:
- · one – Paradigms and
Principles (composed by two chapters: Inside-Out and The 7
Habits – An Overview);
- · two – Private Victory (composed by three chapters: Habit 1 – Be Proactive, Habit 2 – Begin with
the End in Mind, Habit 3 – Put First Things First);
- · three – Public Victory (composed by three chapters: Habit 4 – Think Win/win, Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, Habit 6 – Synergize);
- and four – Renewal (composed by the chapter Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw).
Essentially, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” defends an inside-out approach of leadership (inside)-management (outside), applicable to all our life: from the private to the public, from the familiar to the professional spheres. Leadership comes first with our values and the definition of a purpose, a direction - a “why” just like Simon Sinek underlines in his book “Start with why”- and, at a second place, management, thinking of control, efficiency and rules.
Comentários
Enviar um comentário