Topic Workbook -

Skills for Personal Effectiveness

Contents

Chapter Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 2

Learning Outcomes.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 3

Context ................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Essential Reading ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Key Personal Effectiveness Skills Research ......................................................................................................... 7

Exercise .............................................................................................................................................................. 10

Further Study Guidance..................................................................................................................................... 12

Exercise Solutions .............................................................................................................................................. 13

References ......................................................................................................................................................... 14

Index .................................................................................................................................................................. 15

Figure 1 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ..................................................................................................... 8

1
Chapter Overview

Skills for personal effectiveness are things that we can develop and exploit in order to help us meet our
future goals. These may include technical skills and/or interpersonal skills.

This topic will cover key concepts, research and models in skills for personal effectiveness, as well as how
they apply to a real-world business context. These include:

• Hard skills and soft skills

• The CEO Genome Project
• Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Future predictions regarding skills required for personal effectiveness

During this topic you will assess your own skills for personal effectiveness against Steven Covey’s 7 Habits
model and review a number of resources to assist in developing your own personal effective skills. Further
reading is indicated to explore the BPP Career Ready Skills and support available to assist you to develop
these.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this topic you should be able to:

• Critically evaluate perspectives on key skills of highly effective people

• Critically evaluate your current level of personal effectiveness within the context of theory and
devise a clear development approach

2
Chapter Summary
In this topic we discuss what is meant by skills for personal effectiveness in the context of hard and soft
skills. We consider some of the key theoretical and research perspectives and complete a self-assessment to
identify our current levels of proficiency against these skills.

Many authors have provided guidance on key skills for personal effectiveness; in this topic we review
Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which is regarded as the most influential of these works.
We also review the CEO Genome Project, a large, longitudinal study conducted to distil the key attributes of
high performing senior leaders. These works would suggest that soft skills are of more importance in
personal effectiveness than hard skills and would suggest the following as the key skills for personal
effectiveness:

• Strategic judgement
• Emotional intelligence
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Future focus
• Collaborative working
• Dedication to personal development

In order to assist in understanding our current proficiency in these areas, we complete a questionnaire
aligned to Covey’s 7 Habits. Further research is indicated, where learners can explore their skills in more
depth, by reviewing the BPP’s Career Ready Skills Framework and accessing support to devise personal
development plans.

Workforce predictions would suggest that by 2030, soft skills will become of increased importance.
Predictions of most the valuable skills by 2030 include emotional intelligence, creativity, complex problem
solving and analytical judgement.

Associated learning content includes more recent works, which build additional dimensions to broaden our
thinking. This includes critique of Covey’s model, introduction to emotional intelligence and discussion of the
impact of digital transformation on the skills required for the future.

Key Takeaways

• Soft skills are hugely important in personal effectiveness, with current thinking highlighting the
importance of how people relate to others above all else. This trend is likely to continue and
increase further in future as our working and personal lives become more digitally influenced
• The three most commonly recommended skills for personal effectiveness are: emotional
intelligence, communication/collaboration and a growth mindset - ongoing focus on personal
development

3
Context

What do we Mean by ‘Skills’?

Skills are defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as “ability or proficiency acquired through
training and practice” (APA, 2020). Typically, skills come with an accepted standard of what proficiency looks
like; this can include both technical and behavioural elements. Often terms such as ‘skills’, ‘competencies’
and ‘behaviours’ are used interchangeably or substituted with other words or phrases. In the context of
personal effectiveness, we will discuss skills as both technical and behavioural abilities, which are learned
and in which mastery can be developed.

Examples of skills include:

• Analytical and technological skills
• Negotiation skills
• Collaborative working
• Communication skills
• Emotional and social intelligence

Hard Skills and Soft Skills

The term ‘hard skills’ describes technical skills, which are usually related to the functional elements of the
job, such as procedural knowledge or understanding of systems. Hard skills are more easily quantified and
compared (Vasanthakumari, 2019).

The term ‘soft skills’ describes personal qualities, which facilitate human connection; these can be more
difficult to measure and compare across individuals. “Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social
skills, communication skills, character or personality traits, attitudes, career attributes, social and emotional
intelligence, intelligence quotients, that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others,
perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills.” (Vasanthakumari, 2019, p67).

Review of the literature would indicate that soft skills have more influence on personal effectiveness than
hard skills, with soft skills highlighted as important much more frequently.

Future Predictions of the Skills Required for Personal Effectiveness

Workforce predictions would suggest that by 2030, soft skills which are more difficult to automate will
become of increased importance. Predictions of most valuable skills by 2030 include:

• Emotional intelligence
• Analytical (critical) thinking
• Complex problem solving
• Judgement and decision making

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 • Interpersonal communication skills
• Fluency of ideas
• Diversity and cultural intelligence
• Active listening and persuasion
• Embracing change
• Motivating, developing, and directing people
• Creativity and innovation

(Bakhshi, Downing, Osborne and Schneider, 2017; PwC, 2018; Marr, 2019)
Essential Reading

Learners are advised to review the following articles, which provide practical tips and quick wins to develop
everyday skills that are useful for improving personal effectiveness.

Emotional Intelligence

Freedman, J., 2018. How to Improve Emotional Intelligence: 10 Tips for Increasing Self-Awareness. [online]
Available through: https://www.6seconds.org/2018/02/27/emotional-intelligence-tips-awareness/.

Time Management

Eisenhower, 2017. Introducing the Eisenhower Matrix. [online] https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-

matrix/.

Rampton, J., 2018. Manipulate Time with These Powerful 20 Time Management Tips. [online] Available
through: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2018/05/01/manipulate-time-with-these-powerful-
20-time-management-tips/#14ac9ad357ab.

Stakeholder Management

Project Management Institute, 2020. Stakeholder Management Strategies: Applying Risk Management to
People. [online] Available through: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/stakeholder-management-
strategies-applying-risk-management-7479.

Puyear, T, 2019. Stop Apologizing & Start Thanking. [online] Available through:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stop-apologizing-start-thanking-tammy-puyear/

Developing Others

MindTools, 2018. Developing Your Team: Improving Team Performance. [online] Available through:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/developing-your-team.htm.

Negotiation

Shonk, K, 2020. Top 10 Negotiation Skills You Must Learn to Succeed. [online] Available through:
https://www.pon.harvard.edu/uncategorized/top-10-negotiation-skills/

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Key Personal Effectiveness Skills Research

CEO Genome Project

ghSMART's CEO Genome project was a large, longitudinal study published by Botelho, Powell, Kincaid and
Wang (2017) in order to profile the key attributes of successful leaders. The project was initiated after a PwC
report in 2014 revealed that around 25% of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) departures from Fortune 500
companies was not voluntary on the part of the CEO (PwC, 2014). This raised the question over whether
recruiters in most organisations are recruiting for the right attributes.

The CEO Genome Project took place over 10 years and profiled the characteristics and performance of over
17,000 executives, including 2,000 CEOs. This considered their career history, business results and
behavioural patterns. The aim of the study was to create a profile of the attributes that make a successful
CEO.

Results presented several surprises in that many of the characteristics that made CEO candidates more likely
to be hired were not the characteristics most associated with high performance. From the results, four skills
emerged as critical to high performance:

• Deciding with speed and conviction

Rather than exclusively making the right decisions, successful CEOs excel at being decisive - making
decisions quickly and with conviction despite a shortage of information. The most successful
participants in this study reported that they weighed up the consequences of making the wrong
decision against the consequences of making a decision too slowly and found that being seen as
indecisive was more costly.
• Engaging for impact
The most successful CEOs secure buy-in from employees and stakeholders and put a strong
emphasis on the need to balance the interests of stakeholders. In order to do this, mapping
stakeholders and cultivating a deep understanding of their interests and motivations was key.
Alongside this, conflict management was important, as was strong emotional intelligence – that is
understanding and managing your own emotions and those of others.
• Adapting proactively
The best CEOs must be able to adapt their approach, often in unprecedented circumstances where
previous experience cannot be relied upon. The most adaptable CEOs spent 50% of their time or
more thinking about the long-term, which was 20% more time than weaker participants on average.
This ‘horizon scanning’ approach meant that successful CEOs were more likely to see any early
warning signs that meant they needed to change their approach before they were too committed to
the wrong path. Successful CEOs were also more likely to adopt a ‘growth mindset’, which means
believing that most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work (Dweck,
2008). To this end, higher performing CEOs saw setbacks as learning experiences and were happy to
openly discuss times when they had not got the results that wanted.
• Delivering reliably
The study found that CEOs who reliably produced results were 15x more likely to be successful and

7
 were much more likely to be preferred by boards and investors as well as trusted by employees due
to the predictability of their behaviour. This was deemed to be the most important of the four
attributes, with 94% of all strong participants performing well in this area.

The study noted that it was rare for successful leaders to excel in all four behaviours. However, around 50%
of the successful candidates excelled in one or more of the behaviours, while just 5% of the weaker
candidates did so. The study also noted that the behaviours appear to be very simple, but consistency is key
to deliver successful results, which was found to be a considerable challenge.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen Covey (2004) authored what is considered to be the most influential book summarising the key
skills of personal effectiveness, based on his many years of study of texts on the matter. Covey originally
authored his 7 Habits of highly Effective People (Figure 1) in 1989, with a number of subsequent updates,
including The 8th Habit, which followed in 2004.

Source: Bohatala

Figure 1 - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

 • Be proactive
Proactive people look for opportunities to move towards their goal at every turn, using their
resourcefulness and initiative, adapting to their environment by focusing on what is within their
control. This is as opposed to reactive people, who focus on the things that they cannot control and
spend time waiting for things to improve without making meaningful attempts to influence them.
• Begin with the end in mind
Highly effective people have an outcome-oriented mindset, are clear about what their aims are from
the outset and retain a clear focus of what they want their outcomes to be. This is based on the
concept that all things are created twice – once in the mind through visualisation and then they are
physically created. To do this, it can be helpful to consider what you want to achieve and how you
want to be remembered. By starting with the end in mind, you can formulate an effective plan, with
short, medium and long-term goals to get you there.
• Put first things first
Relates to prioritising and allocating time to the things that are actually important to us and move us
closer to achieving our aims. Many of us are aware of what the activities are that are most important
to us, but in reality we spend much of our time doing things that are less important. Covey described
the habit of putting first things first as where habits 1 and 2 come together, but that we must also be
mindful about prioritising the things that are personally most important to us.
• Think win-win
A win-lose situation is one where one side benefits more than the other. However, in order to win, it
is not a requirement that somebody else loses. Highly effective people work towards collaboration
and cooperation, creating arrangements where all parties gain from outcomes. Covey advocated for
an ‘abundance mentality’ – where there is plenty for all, rather than a scarcity of resources.
• Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Covey believed that communication is the most important of all skills, but most people listen with
the intent to reply, not to understand. This approach can limit our understanding of the other party’s
perspective as we interpret their message through our own frame of reference without really
listening. Highly effective people understand the perspectives of others, which in turn helps them to
communicate their perspectives in a way that is meaningful to other people.
• Synergise
Covey described synergy as a habit of ‘creating cooperation’, recognising that a team of people can
create better outcomes together than they all could alone. This habit, according to Covey, does not
come naturally and needs to be actively developed, but d can lead to greatly increased capability,
along with new insights and new approaches.
• Sharpen the saw
Dedicating time to maintaining our own personal effectiveness by practicing self-care and updating
our professional skills is essential to success, at all stages in our lives – take time to ‘sharpen the saw’
in order to cut the tree down more easily! With this habit Covey advocated for dedicating time to
maintaining the effectiveness of your greatest asset – yourself, in order to be able to perform the
other habits.

Stephen Covey’s 8th habit refers to the need to ‘find your voice and inspire others to find theirs’, practicing
principle-centred leadership by adopting a whole-person approach.
Exercise

Skills for Personal Effectiveness Self-Assessment

Read each statement and circle the number that indicates how well you believe you perform each of the
following skills. This survey is for your information only so please be honest in order to conduct the most
accurate assessment of your skills.

Proficiency
Very
Habit Very poor Poor Fair Good
good
Outstanding
Category 1
I am in control of my life 1 2 3 4 5 6
I focus my efforts on things I can 1 2 3 4 5 6
do something about rather than
on things beyond my control
I take responsibility for my moods 1 2 3 4 5 6
and actions rather than blame
others and circumstances
Category 2
I know what I want to accomplish 1 2 3 4 5 6
in life
I organise and prepare in a way 1 2 3 4 5 6
that reduces having to work in a
crisis mode
I begin each week with a clear plan 1 2 3 4 5 6
of what I desire to accomplish
Category 3
I am disciplined in carrying out 1 2 3 4 5 6
plans (avoiding procrastination,
time wasters, and so forth)
I do not allow the truly important 1 2 3 4 5 6
activities of my life to get lost in
the busy activities of my days
The things I do every day are 1 2 3 4 5 6
meaningful and contribute to my
overall goals in life
Category 4
I care about the success of others 1 2 3 4 5 6
as well as my own
I cooperate with others 1 2 3 4 5 6

10
 When solving conflicts, I strive to 1 2 3 4 5 6
find solutions that benefit all
Category 5
I am sensitive to the feelings of 1 2 3 4 5 6
others
I seek to understand the 1 2 3 4 5 6
viewpoints of others
. When listening, I try to see things 1 2 3 4 5 6
from the other person’s point of
view, not just my own
Category 6
I value and seek out the insights of 1 2 3 4 5 6
others
I am creative in searching for new 1 2 3 4 5 6
and better ideas and solutions
I encourage others to express their 1 2 3 4 5 6
opinions
Category 7
I care for my physical health and 1 2 3 4 5 6
wellbeing
I strive to build and improve 1 2 3 4 5 6
relationships with others
I take time to find meaning and 1 2 3 4 5 6
enjoyment in life
(Adapted from Franklin Covey, n.d.)
Further Study Guidance

Further study is indicated to research BPP’s Career Ready Skills Framework and associated learning tools to
further develop personalised development plans. Further guidance is available via The Hub and the
Professional Development team.

BPP Career Ready Skills

12
 Exercise Solutions

Total your points for each category in the Category Totals column. There are seven categories, one for each
of the Covey’s 7 Habits.

After you have computed your category totals, mark each score in the grid below. Then graph your totals by
shading the relevant boxes in the graph below.

The higher your score, the more closely you are aligned with the 7 Habits principles. Where your score is
lower than you would like, you are encouraged to complete further research to better understand how to
increase your effectiveness in those habits. Several introductory resources are signposted to in the Essential
Reading section of this workbook.

Category 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Total
Begin Put First Think Seek First Synergise Sharpen
Be with the Things Win-Win to the Saw
Habit
Proactive End in First Understand
Mind

18
Outstanding

15
Very good

12
Good

9
Fair

6
Poor

3
Very poor

(Adapted from Franklin Covey, n.d.)

13
References

American Psychological Association (APA), 2020. APA Dictionary of Psychology [online]. Available at:
https://dictionary.apa.org/skill.

Bakhshi, H., Downing, J., Osborne, M. and Schneider, P., 2017. The Future of Skills: Employment in 2030.
London: Pearson and Nesta.

Botelho, E. L., Powell, K. R., Kincaid, S. and Wang, D., 2017. What Sets Successful CEOs Apart. Harvard
Business Review, May-June 2017, p70-77.

Covey, S. R., 2004. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Free
Press.

Covey, S. R., 2004. The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. New York: Free Press.

Dweck, C. S., 2008. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Ballantine Books.

Franklin Covey, n.d. Self-Scoring 7 Habits Tool. [online] Available through: http://franklincovey.ro/tools/

Marr, B., 2019. The 10 Vital Skills you Will Need for the Future of Work. [online] Available through:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/04/29/the-10-vital-skills-you-will-need-for-the-future-of-
work/#1eb03b8f3f5b.

PwC, 2014. 2014 Study of CEOs, Governance, and Success: The Value of Getting CEO Succession Right.
[online] Available through: https://www.pwc.fr/fr/assets/files/pdf/2015/04/2014_study-of-ceos-
governance-and-success.pdf

PwC, 2018. Workforce of the Future: The Competing Forces Shaping 2030. [online] Available through:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/workforce-of-the-future/workforce-of-the-
future-the-competing-forces-shaping-2030-pwc.pdf.

Vasanthakumari, S., (2019). Soft Skills and its Application in Work Place. World Journal of Advanced Research
and Reviews, 3(2), 66-72.

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 Index

Eisenhower Matrix, 7
7 Embracing change, 6 P
7 Habits, 1, 9, 16 emotional intelligence, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8
personal development, 3, 4
F personal effectiveness, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11
A persuasion, 6
Active listening, 6 Fortune 500 companies, 8 Powell, Kincaid and Wang, 8
Activist, 12 Freedman, 7 proactive, 10
Adaptability, 3 Future focus, 3 problem solving, 3, 6
American Psychological Association (APA), Future predictions, 2 Project Management Institute, 2020, 7
16 PwC, 6, 8, 16
Analytical, 5, 6 G
Analytical and technological skills, 5 R
APA, 5, 16 growth mindset, 4, 8
Rampton, 7
H Reflector, 12
B
Bakhshi, Downing, Osborne and Schneider, 6 Hard skills, 2, 5 S
behavioural, 5, 8 high performing senior leaders, 3
BPP’s Career Ready Skills, 2, 3, 14 self-assessment, 3, 12
business results, 8 I Serenity Zone Therapy, 7
Shonk, 7
influence, 10 skills required for the future, 3
C innovation, 6 social intelligence, 5
CEO Genome Project, 2, 3, 8 interpersonal skills, 2 soft skills, 2, 3, 5
collaboration, 4, 11 Stakeholder management, 7
Collaborative, 3, 5 J
communication, 3,4, 5, 6, 11 T
competencies, 5 judgement, 3, 6
conflict management, 8 technical, 2, 5
control, 10, 12 L technical skills, 2, 5
Covey, 2, 3, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16 Theorist, 12
learning, 16 Time management, 7
Covey’s 7 Habits, 2, 3
creativity, 3, 6
cultural intelligence, 6 M V
Marr, 6, 16 Vasanthakumari, 5, 16
D MindTools, 7
Developing others, 7 W
digital transformation, 3 N
Dweck, 8, 16 Workforce predictions, 3, 5
Negotiation, 5, 7

E
O
Eisenhower, 7
outcome-oriented, 10

15