Read without ads and support Scribd by becoming a Scribd Premium Reader.
See Premium Plans
 
The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People
Like a lot of people, I first came across Stephen Covey from his best-seller - The 7Habits of Highly Effective People. As Covey himself admits, these habits are sort of self-evident. But sometimes it's a very good thing to state the obvious in a way thatgives us a fresh perspective. The 7 Habits made me think. Some critics contend thatStephen Covey offers "quick fixes” that are impractical or idealistic. All I can say isthat The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People helped me.If you're like me, you've probably read many self-help books. I used to imagine that"other people" must be out there studiously applying all the principles and processes.What I've come to realize is that the vast majority of us read the books, perhapswith great intentions, but over time we're lucky if we remember anything at all. Sonow I've come to rate books from the perspective of:
-
Do I remember things? And-Did I change some habits as a result?The things from this book that stuck with me were:
•
Begin with the End in Mind:
•
Seek First to Understand., and the
•
Four Quadrants from First Things FirstStephen Covey - Begin with the End in Mind - Steven Covey stops short of everstating something like theLaw Of Attraction, but with this Habit 2, he's hit upon avery fundamental principle for creating what we want in our lives. This habit is justplain good advice - advice that I found useful even before I came to understand theLaw. Once understood, the power of this approach becomes even more obvious.What's important, before we begin anything, is to get wrapped up in the vision of where we want to be. Then the forces of the Universe get lined up to create"accidents" and "coincidences" that can effortlessly deliver to us what we've beenseeking.Stephen Covey - Seek First to Understand - a piece of advice I've treasured - notthat I always remember it in the heat of trying to get my point of view across tosomebody whose visions or beliefs contrast with mine. But sometimes I do, and whata difference it makes when you consciously try to understand the other's point of view before you present your own. From the native American song to the Great Spirit-"May I not judge my brother, until I have walked a mile in his moccasins "Stephen Covey's Four Quadrants - once again this is just common sense - but it surehelps to have it laid out logically. If we classify what we have to do in terms of both
 
Urgency (X-axis) and Importance (Y-axis), then we can place our To-Do items in onequadrant or another. I got two important things from this:1. If I allow myself to be driven unconsciously by the "tyranny" of the urgent but(mostly) unimportant (Quad 3), then once again I'm condemning myself to more of Quad 1.2. The more time I spend in Quad 2, the less I will spend later in Quad 1.Ken Blanchard of "The One Minute Manager" fame has a different take on thesequadrants, and I have my own also - see Time Management for more on this.
Stephen Covey
Stephen Covey was born on October 24, 1932 in Salt Lake City. Born and raised aMormon, he served for a time as a missionary in England and he remains stronglycommitted to the Mormon church. He earned his undergraduate degree from theUniversity of Utah, his MBA from Harvard and completed his doctorate at BrighamYoung University. While at Brigham Young University, he was assistant to thepresident and was also a professor of business management and organizationalbehavior.Stephen Covey left Brigham Young in 1983 to form the Covey Leadership Center. Itwas good timing - corporate America was eager for ideas about improving the moraleand effectiveness of manager and workers alike. The 7 Habits, published in 1989,became a huge success - appearing on the New York Times bestseller list for wellover five years. The book's success helped the Leaderships Center. Throughout the'90s, "hundreds of corporations, government agencies, and universities invited Coveyto conduct seminars with, or present talks to, their employees."In 1997 the Covey Leadership Centre merged with the Franklin Quest Company (of day-planner fame). In announcing the deal, management were optimistic - "Weintend to apply our own expertise to our own merger, thereby creating a modelmerger for corporate industry." Sadly, like the vast majority of mergers, thedifference in cultures was hard to reconcile, and good habits or no good habits, thestock remains in the tank. What can I say - even gurus don't always get it right!Stephen Covey has published a number of books including:
The Divine Center (1982)
(The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989)Principle Centered Leadership (1992)Spiritual Roots of Human Relations (1993)First Things First: To Live, to Love, to Learn, to Leave a Legacy (1996)
Search
Search History:
Searching...
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
  • p.
    • Notes
    Load more