Executive Summary
There are many human resource management and leadership books that have come out since the 7 Habits of Highly Effectively People, yet Stephen Covey’s insights as explained in his book is still one of the favorite books many managers and entrepreneurs read. It still provides one of the most insightful recommendations on how a person can become a more effective individual. This essay provides an in-depth analysis of the teachings of Covey on achieving personal victories as a first step towards achieving public victories. The first step in winning personal battles and in becoming an effective individual is to conquer oneself. Covey shared the basic principles on achieving personal victory by first changing or correcting a person’s paradigm. Correcting one’s paradigm requires seeing things in a different light. In order to change a person’s paradigm three habits were explained and applied from the perspective of a manager and an online entrepreneur – be proactive, begin with the end in mind and putting first things first.
Introduction
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey’s best-known book, has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 1989. The audio version became the first non-fiction audio-book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies. Covey argues against what he calls “The Personality Ethic”, something he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He instead promotes what he labels “The Character Ethic”: aligning one’s values with so-called “universal and timeless” principles. Covey adamantly refuses to conflate principles and values; he sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. Covey proclaims that values govern people’s behavior, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence via independence to interdependence.
In his first habit, Covey sends the message that people should be proactive. In life, it is very easy to become reactive. When something tragic happens, it is easy to feel lost and confused. Faced with difficulties, it is easy to refuse to accept responsibility and put the blame on other persons for one’s mistake. It is also very easy to feel affected by the changes which are happening in the external environment. It is also very easy for a person to define himself based on how other people see him not based on how he sees himself. More importantly it is very easy to say that “I have no choice” or “I have no control over the situation.”
Stephen Covey emphasized in his First Habit to be Proactive. Proactivity does not simply mean taking the initiative to do something which other people refused to do. Proactivity means taking control of one’s life. It means deciding for oneself that he cannot allow other people to dictate how he feels and he should decide. Anybody who wants to influence and inspire other people needs to learn that they are responsible for their own lives. The premise of the first habit is that emotions often get into the way of an individual in becoming proactive. To be able to become effective, it is necessary for individuals to understand that we all have our choices.
From the point of view of a business manager or an entrepreneur, they can find wisdom in Covey’s first habit. For business managers, there will be always problem employees who will either report for work late or fail to meet company deadlines. For online entrepreneurs there will always be top clients who will stop ordering or clients who will be dissatisfied with their service. These business managers cannot simply bark at the problem employee and embarrass him in front of his colleagues or fire him without undergoing proper procedure. The online entrepreneur cannot simply be angry at the complaining customer and respond in such a way that will damage the reputation of his business. These are the actions of very reactive individuals.
Following the words of Covey, the business manager and the online entrepreneur need to know that they have the “ability to choose their response” (Stephen Covey 33). Highly effective people do not blame circumstances, conditions or conditioning for their behavior. They cannot say that the problem employee or the angry customer was asking for it. Highly effective people handle the matter differently. Instead of reacting negatively, the manager can ask his colleagues and inquire about the possible reasons why the employee is always late for work or missing his deadlines. The manager can ask around if the employee is happy with the present department which he is assigned to report to. If these are the possible reasons, then the manager can simply reassign him to another department where his skills are more suited. For the online entrepreneur, he should immediately respond to the client and find out the reason why the client is angry. By talking to the client directly the online entrepreneur will be able to understand what is wrong with his present system and perhaps improve it so he will not get similar reaction from other clients.
Covey’s second habit is Begin with the End in Mind. The second habit is directed to all people who are so preoccupied with making advancements or progress with the things they are working on only to find out that they are going to the wrong direction. Oftentimes, people make the mistake of thinking that they are satisfied with the way things are happening because there is movement or progress. Covey sends his message that we should also begin our task with a goal or objective as a starting point. The premise is that having the end in mind from the beginning of the journey assures that the individual will not get lost. It also assures that the individual will understand what his goals are so that he can later on plan his actions which can help achieve his goals. According to Covey (46), “It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy — very busy — without being very effective.”
For the business manager, does he want to be remembered as someone who is autocratic? Does he want to be known as the manager who accepts no ideas or opinions from other employees? Or does he want to be remembered as the participative leader who gets the opinions or other people and praises them and motivates the employees to become better? For online entrepreneurs who are starting their business, they can also find wisdom in their statement. If they are planning a design for their website, they should first determine what they hope to achieve. What is the goal of the startup business? What is the company’s objective? Does the startup business want to be known as the business which helps consumer by giving them advice about financial matters? These things should be clear to the online entrepreneur from the moment he decides to create a website and plan the contents of his website. Otherwise, he will only end up re-doing everything that he had finished. The business manager and the online entrepreneur can learn from Covey that we should all start things with a plan of what we hope to achieve in the future.
The same advice is applicable for many companies. Companies need to have a mission statement which should guide the company in the right direction. A few years ago, Starbucks learned the hard way that deviating from their mission statement can be very costly. In their desire to appeal to broader segment of population, Starbucks redesigned its stores and brought coffee machines which allowed the barista to prepare their customers’ orders within a few minutes. The change was due to the desire to attract the busy professionals who like to order “to go” coffee. The change, however, affected the company’s brand and image. It was no longer the premier provider of the finest coffee because the taste of its coffee started to change. Clients started order McDonald’s coffee and shares started to go down. Starbucks made the mistake of deviating from its mission statement. Fortunately, it was able to rectify its mistakes and it was able to recover from its slump.
Covey’s third habit is Put First Things First. Effective managers are individuals who are disciplined enough to carry out the task necessary to achieve the goal and objective. It means doing things which are necessary for achievement of goals even if they dislike the activity. The third habit presupposes that the individual has mastered the first and second habit. It presupposes that the individual has learned to take control of his action. It also presupposes that the individual already has a mental road map of what he hopes to achieve.
The third habit is putting into action his plans. According to Covey, “The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose” (75)
Business managers can learn from the third habit. Managers may dislike conducting performance appraisals. They may think that they are making the employees feel uncomfortable every time a performance appraisal is conducted. Yet, it is absolutely indispensable to find out the performance of the employees and to determine which of the employees should be rewarded. Every company conducts performance appraisal which is considered as important in motivating employees to perform beyond what is expected of them. So, highly effective managers still do his task by explaining to the employees the reasons why it is being done and by ensuring that he remains objective in his evaluation.
For online entrepreneurs, talking to disgruntled clients can be difficult. Listening to their endless complaints can be time consuming but it is necessary for the achievement of the company’s goals and objectives. In fact, online entrepreneurs do not only have to listen and understand the client’s complaints. It is essential for them to appease the client so that he does not talk to his friend about his issues with the company. In fact, when an online entrepreneur manages these complaints effectively then the disgruntled customer may be converted into a loyal follower who can serve as the advocate or ally of the business.
Conclusion
Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People can be a valuable source of information for all people – managers, online entrepreneurs, or even students. Its message is applicable for all generations and for all from all walks of life. Anybody who seeks to gain personal mastery can find Covey’s 7 Habits enlightening and instructive. As explained, the first step to getting public victory is to achieve personal victory. Achieving personal victory requires changing a person’s paradigm first and correcting several wrong notions about himself. Several wrong notions about dealing with people and engaging in human relationships have been explained. In order for a person to correct his paradigm and to put himself in the right perspective, three essential habits have been sufficiently explained and applied from the perspective of a manager and an online entrepreneur – be proactive, begin with the end in mind and put first things first.
