Stephen R. Covey - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Steven Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is so popular that certain words like paradigm and mission statements have become part of the English language and no wonder.

In his book he describes the seven habits of highly effective people. He first begins by explaining that we need to change from the inside-out. In other words we need to first change ourselves from the inside and then work at changing the situation from the outside.

This book discusses the personality verses the character based ethics. He says that before World War I that our country was based mainly on the character ethic. After World Was I he says that success has become more of a function of personality instead of character.

The first three habits are what he calls private victories. They are Habit #1 Be Proactive; including the principles of personal vision. Habit #2 is to Begin with the End in Mind; including the principles of personal leadership. Habit #3 is to Put First Things First; including Principles of Personal Management.

The next three habits are what he calls public victories and are paradigms of interdependence verses independence or dependence. Habit #4 is Think Win/Win; including principles of interpersonal leadership. Habit #5 is Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood; including principles of empathetic communication. Habit #6 is Synergize; including principles of creative cooperation.

Habit #7 which is the final habit and is what he calls the renewal. It is Sharpen the Saw; including principles of balanced self-renewal.

Some other interesting points follow though unfortunately I can't explain them all here in a short book review. He mentions the circle of concern and the circle of influence. Some things we are concerned with but don't have any control over. He stresses that we need to focus our effort in the circle of influence, those things that we can do something about.

The time management matrix is very intriguing. He talks about 4 major quadrants. Imagine a square divided into four sections. In the upper two sections are quadrants one and two. These are the important areas. In the bottom two sections are the non important areas. The left two sections, are the urgent areas. Some things are urgent but not important while some are urgent and important. The right two sections are the non urgent areas. Some areas aren't urgent but are still important.

Section one upper left is both urgent and important. These include activities such as crises, pressing problems, and deadline-driven projects. Section two upper right is the section that we need to spend more time in to avoid having to spend as much time solving problems. This includes prevention, relationship building, recognizing new opportunities, planning and recreation.

Section three, lower left includes activities that are urgent but not important. Such activities such as interruptions, some calls, some mail, some reports, some meetings (don't tell your boss I told you this), proximate, pressing matters and popular activities. Section four includes activities that are neither important or urgent. These include such things as trivia, busy work, some mail, some phone calls, time wasters and pleasant activities.

The book also mentions things such as the mission statement and the due north principle. He says that if we are not going in the right direction that we will not get there regardless of how great our attitude is or how fast we are traveling.

The emotional bank account principle is a very interesting point. He says that we make deposits and withdrawals with the people that we deal with every day, sometimes without realizing it. He mentions some great ways to be sure that we are making deposits and not withdrawals. Understanding the individual, attending to the little things, keeping commitments which is uncommon in this day and age, clarifying expectations, showing personal integrity, and apologizing sincerely when you make a withdrawal.