7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Be Proactive, Personal Vision

Habit 1: Proactivity means that, as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. behavior is a function of our !ecisions, not our con!itions. ur

"here are three central values in life: the e#periential $that which happens to us%, the creative $that which we bring into e#istence%, an! the attitu!inal $our response to !ifficult circumstances%. &hat matters most is how we respon! to what we e#perience in life. Proactivity is groun!e! in facing reality but also un!erstan!ing we have the power to choose a positive response to our circumstances. &e nee! to un!erstan! how we focus our time an! energy to be effective. "he things we are concerne! about coul! be !escribe! as our '(ircle of (oncern'. "here are things we can really !o something about, that can be !escribe! as our '(ircle of )nfluence'. &hen we focus our time an! energy in our (ircle of (oncern, but outsi!e our (ircle of )nfluence, we are not being effective. However, we fin! that being proactive helps us e#pan! our (ircle of )nfluence. $&or* on things you can !o something about.% +eactive people focus their efforts on the (ircle of (oncern, over things they can,t control. "heir negative energy causes their (ircle of )nfluence to shrin*. -ometimes we ma*e choices with negative conse.uences, calle! mista*es. &e can,t recall or un!o past mista*es. "he proactive approach to a mista*e is to ac*nowle!ge it instantly, correct an! learn from it. -uccess is the far si!e of failure. /t the heart of our (ircle of )nfluence is our ability to ma*e an! *eep commitments an! promises. ur integrity in *eeping commitments an! the ability to ma*e commitments are the clearest manifestations of proactivity.

Begin &ith "he En! )n 0in!, Personal 1ea!ership

Habit 2: "here are three ma3or aspects of our personal an! business management. 4irst is lea!ership what !o )5we want to accomplish6 -econ! is management how can ) best accomplish it6 "hir! is pro!uctivity !oing it. /ccor!ing to Peter 7ruc*er an! &arren Bennis, '0anagement is !oing things right8 1ea!ership is !oing the right things.' / starting point in beginning with the en! in min! is to !evelop a personal mission statement, philosophy or cre!o. )t will help you focus on what you want to be $character%,

!o $contributions an! achievements% an! on the values an! principles upon which your being an! !oing are base!. "he personal mission statement gives us a changeless core from which we can !eal with e#ternal change. "he principles we base our lives on shoul! be !eep, fun!amental truths, classic truths, or generic common !enominators. "hey will become tightly interwoven themes running with e#actness, consistency, beauty an! strength through the fabric of our lives. )n !eveloping your personal mission statement, you can use your creative ability to imagine life milestones such as birth!ays, anniversaries, retirement an! funerals. &hat accomplishments woul! you li*e to celebrate6 Visuali9e them in rich !etail.

Put 4irst "hings 4irst Principles of Personal 0anagement

Habit :: ;Habit 1 ) am the Programmer. Habit 2 Program.< &rite the Program. Habit : E#ecute the

Habit : is Personal 0anagement, the e#ercise of in!epen!ent will to create a life congruent with your values, goals an! mission. "ime management is an essential s*ill for personal management. "he essence of time management is to organi9e an! e#ecute aroun! priorities. 0etho!s of time management have !evelope! in these stages: 1% notes an! chec*lists recogni9ing multiple !eman!s on our time8 2% calen!ars an! appointment boo*s sche!uling events an! activities8 :% prioriti9ing, clarifying values integrating our !aily planning with goal setting $"he !ownsi!e of this approach is increasing efficiency can re!uce the spontaneity an! relationships of life.%8 =% managing ourselves rather than managing time focusing in preserving an! enhancing relationships an! accomplishing results, thus maintaining the P5P( balance $pro!uction versus buil!ing pro!uction capacity%. / matri# can be ma!e of the characteristics of activities, classifying them as urgent or not urgent, important or not important. >ua!rant ) activities are urgent an! important calle! problems or crises. 4ocusing on >ua!rant ) results in it getting bigger an! bigger until it !ominates you. >ua!rant ))) activities are urgent an! not important, an! often misclassifie! as >ua!rant ). >ua!rant )V is the escape >ua!rant activities that are not urgent an! not important. Effective people stay out of >ua!rants ))) an! )V because they aren,t important. "hey shrin* >ua!rant ) !own to si9e by spen!ing more time in >ua!rant )).

>ua!rant )) activities are important, but not urgent. &or*ing on this >ua!rant is the heart of personal time management. "hese are P( activities. >ua!rant )) activities are high impact activities that when !one regularly woul! ma*e a tremen!ous !ifference in your life. $)nclu!ing implementing the -even Habits.% )nitially, the time for >ua!rant )) activities must come from >ua!rants ))) an! )V. >ua!rant ) can,t be ignore!, but shoul! eventually shrin* with attention to >ua!rant )). 1% Prioriti9e 2% rgani9e /roun! Priorities :% 7iscipline yourself / critical s*ill for personal management is !elegation. Effectively !elegating to others is perhaps the single most powerful highleverage activity there is. 7elegation enables you to !evote your energies to highlevel activities in a!!ition to enabling personal growth for in!ivi!uals an! organi9ations. "here are two types of !elegation: ?ofer 7elegation an! -upervision of Efforts $-tewar!ship%. @sing ?ofer 7elegation re.uires !ictating not only what to !o, but how to !o it. "he supervisor then must function as a 'boss,' micromanaging the progress of the 'subor!inate.' 0ore effective managers use -tewar!ship 7elegation, which focuses on results instea! of metho!s. People are able to choose the metho! to achieve the results. )t ta*es more time up front, but has greater benefits. -tewar!ship 7elegation re.uires a clear, upfront mutual un!erstan!ing of an! commitment to e#pectations in five areas: 1. 7esire! +esults Have the person see it, !escribe it, ma*e a .uality statement of what the results will loo* li*e an! by when they will be accomplishe!. 2. ?ui!elines )!entify the parameters within which the in!ivi!ual shoul! operate, an! what potential 'failure paths' might be. Aeep the responsibility for results with the person !elegate! to. :. +esources )!entify the resources available to accomplish the re.uire! results. =. /ccountability -et stan!ar!s of performance to be use! in evaluating the results an! specific times when reporting an! evaluation will ta*e place. B. (onse.uences -pecify what will happen as a result of the evaluation, inclu!ing psychic or financial rewar!s an! penalties. )mmature people can han!le fewer results an! nee! more gui!elines an! more accountability interviews. 0ature people can han!le more challenging !esire! results with fewer gui!elines an! accountability interviews. '"reat a man as he is an! he will remain as he is. "reat a man as he can an! shoul! be an! he will become as he can an! shoul! be.' Para!igms of )nter!epen!ence "he most important ingre!ient we put into any relationship is not what we say or !o, but

who we are. )n or!er to receive the benefits of inter!epen!ence, we nee! to create an! care for the relationships that are the source of the benefits. "he Emotional Ban* /ccount !escribes how trust is built on a relationship. Positive behaviors are !eposits buil!ing a reserve. Cegative behaviors are with!rawals. / high reserve balance results in higher tolerance for our mista*es an! more open communication. "here are si# ma3or !eposits we can ma*e to the emotional ban* account: 1. @n!erstan!ing the in!ivi!ual. /n in!ivi!ual,s values !etermine what actions will result in a !eposit or a with!rawal for that in!ivi!ual. "o buil! a relationship, you must learn what is important to the other person an! ma*e it as important to you as the other person is to you. @n!erstan! others !eeply as in!ivi!uals an! then treat them in terms of that un!erstan!ing. 2. /tten! to the little things, which are the big things in relationships. :. Aeep commitments. Brea*ing a promise is a ma3or with!rawal. =. (larify e#pectations. "he cause of almost all relationship !ifficulties is roote! in ambiguous, conflicting e#pectations aroun! roles an! goals. 0a*ing an investment of time an! effort up front saves time, effort an! a ma3or with!rawal later. B. -how personal integrity. / lac* of integrity can un!ermine almost any effort to create a high trust reserve. Honesty re.uires conforming our wor!s to reality. )ntegrity re.uires conforming reality to our wor!s, *eeping promises an! fulfilling e#pectations. "he *ey to the many is the one, especially the one that tests the patience an! goo! humor of the many. How you treat the one reveals how you regar! the many, because everyone is ultimately a one. D. /pologi9e sincerely when you ma*e a with!rawal. -incere apologies are !eposits, but repeate! apologies are interprete! as insincere, resulting in with!rawals.

"hin* &in&in
Habit =: &in5&in is one of si# total philosophies of human interaction. 1. &in5&in People can see* mutual benefit in all human interactions. Principle base! behavior.

2. :. =. B. D.

&in51ose "he competitive para!igm: if ) win, you lose. "he lea!ership style is authoritarian. )n relationships, if both people aren,t winning, both are losing. 1ose5&in "he '7oormat' para!igm. "he in!ivi!ual see*s strength from popularity base! on acceptance. "he lea!ership style is permissiveness. 1ose51ose &hen people become obsesse! with ma*ing the other person lose, even at their own e#pense. &in 4ocusing solely on getting what one wants, regar!less of the nee!s of others. &in5&in or Co 7eal )f we can,t fin! a mutually beneficial solution, we agree to !isagree agreeably no !eal. "his approach is most realistic at the beginning of a business relationship or enterprise. )n a continuing relationship, it,s no longer an option.

&hen relationships are paramount, &in5&in is the only viable alternative. )n a competitive situation where buil!ing a relationship isn,t important, &in51ose may be appropriate. "here are five !imensions of the &in5&in mo!el: (haracter, +elationships, /greements, -upportive -ystems an! Processes. 1. (haracter is the foun!ation of &in5&in. "here must be integrity in or!er to establish trust in the relationship an! to !efine a win in terms of personal values. 2. +elationships are the focus on &in5&in. &hatever the orientation of the person you are !ealing with $&in51ose, etc.%, the relationship is the *ey to turning the situation aroun!. :. Performance agreements give !efinition an! !irection to &in5&in. "hey shift the para!igm of pro!uction from vertical $-uperior -ubor!inate% to hori9ontal $Partnership5"eam%. "he agreement shoul! inclu!e elements to create a stan!ar! by which people can measure their own success. 7efine! results $not metho!s% what is to be !one an! when. ?ui!elines the parameters within which the results shoul! be accomplishe! +esources human, financial, technical or organi9ational support available to accomplish the results. /ccountability the stan!ar!s of performance an! time$s% of evaluation. (onse.uences what will happen as a result of the evaluation. =. "he +ewar! -ystem is a *ey element in the &in5&in mo!el. "al*ing &in5&in but rewar!ing &in51ose results in negating the &in5&in para!igm. )f the outstan!ing performance of a few is rewar!e!, the other team members will be losers. )nstea!, !evelop in!ivi!ual achievable goals an! team ob3ectives to be rewar!e!. (ompetition has its place against mar*et competitors, last year,s performance, or another location or in!ivi!ual where cooperation an! inter!epen!ence aren,t re.uire!, but cooperation in the wor*place is as important to free enterprise as competition in the mar*etplace. "he spirit of &in5&in cannot survive in an environment of competition or contests. /ll of the company,s systems shoul! be base! on the principle of &in5&in. "he

(ompensation system of the managers shoul! be base! on the pro!uctivity an! !evelopment of their people. "he &in5&in process has four steps. 1. -ee the problem from the other point of view, in terms of the nee!s an! concerns of the other party. 2. )!entify the *ey issues an! concerns $not positions% involve!. :. 7etermine what results woul! ma*e a fully acceptable solution. =. )!entify new options to achieve those results.

-ee* 4irst to @n!erstan! "hen to be @n!erstoo!

Habit B: &e often prescribe before ma*ing a proper !iagnosis when communicating. &e shoul! first ta*e the time to !eeply un!erstan! the problems presente! to us. -*ills of empathic listening must be built on a character that inspires openness an! trust an! high emotional ban* accounts. Empathic 1istening &hen another person is spea*ing, we usually 'listen' at one of four levels: ignoring, preten!ing, selective listening, or attentive listening. &e shoul! be using the fifth, highest form of listening empathic listening. Empathic listening is listening with intent to un!erstan! the other person,s frame of reference an! feelings. Eou must listen with your ears, your eyes an! your heart. 7iagnose Before Eou Prescribe /n effective salesperson see*s to un!erstan! the nee!s, concerns an! situation of the customer. /n amateur sells pro!ucts, the professional sells solutions. Empathic listening ta*es time, but not as much time as bac*ing up an! correcting misun!erstan!ings, inclu!ing living with problems an! the results of not giving the people you care about psychological air. Habit B is powerful because it focuses on your circle of influence. )t,s an insi!e out approach. Eou are focusing on buil!ing your un!erstan!ing. Eou become influenceable, which is the *ey to influencing others. /s you appreciate people more, they will appreciate you more. -ynergi9e