I’ve heard of The 7 Habits for quite a while and know it is one training course available in Microsoft. But I didn’t really have the interest and chance to learn what these 7 habits are until I purchased The 8th Habit of Stephen R. Covey and read the first three chapters, which motivated me to acquire his “7 habits” and read them both.
Reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is indeed a rewarding experience with lots of exciting discoveries and retrospective meditations. In Mr. Covey’s words, it’s a paradigm shifting experience which enables one to see the system of 7 habits is a solid, principle-based, sequential and interactive ecology to shape and grow an effective person.
Here is my interpretation and understanding of “7 habits”, which can act as a reference if you haven’t had the chance to learn it.
The 7 habits are introduced to cope with the great challenges that we face from various aspects of life, and dealing with “7 habits” means dealing with paradigm shift. As the lens through which we perceive life, paradigm is our value system. The biggest challenge we face in life is “people” challenge, not “thing” challenge because we deal with people all the time, thus the definition of success in life here is “effective”, not “efficient”. One can be efficient with things but needs to be effective with people. And the principle behind effectiveness is P/PC balance, which indicates one needs to find the balance between the Production of desired results and Producing Capabilities.
There are three stages of people, namely dependent, independent and interdependent. The first three habits help build one’s independence.
“Habit 1-Be proactive” recognizes we are responsible for our own choices and have the freedom to choose based on principles and values.
“Habit 2-Begin with the End in Mind” enables us to create a mental vision for our life, identify and commit ourselves to the principles, relationships and purposes that matter most to us.
“Habit 3-Put First Things First” helps us to prioritize our most important priorities identified through Habit 2, organize and execute by principles we value most instead of by the level of urgency.
When we become master of our behaviors and emotions, we would move from “independent” to “interdependent” through habit 4, 5 and 6.
“Habit 4-Think Win-Win” is a frame of mind and heart that seeks mutual benefit and mutual respect in all interactions.
“Habit 5-Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood” is maturity of communication which is the balance between consideration taken to understand and courage taken to be understood. It’s about true communication and relationship building through listening with the intent to understand others, rather than with the intent to reply.
“Habit 6-Synergize” is about seeking a third alternative-not my way, not your way, but a third way that is better than either of us would come up individually through respecting, valuing and even celebrating one another’s differences. It’s about building a synergistic team-where the team is organized so that the strengths of some compensate for the weaknesses of others.
“Habit 7-Sharpen the Saw” is about constantly renewing ourselves in the four basic areas of life: physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual. It’s the habit that increases our capacity to live all other habits of effectiveness.
After reading or reviewing The 7 Habits you would probably have the same feeling with me: why a 8th habit is needed as 7 habits are already a perfect ecological system to excel oneself both at personal and interpersonal level, not to mention the ironical fact that the book of The 8th Habit is even thicker than The 7 Habits! Mr. Covey explains the reason is that the world today is different, with more challenge, ambiguity and complexity and while the 7 habits form a strong basis upon which to start, it is this next step – the 8th habit –that will take us to true fulfillment in what Mr. Covey describes as the age of the knowledge worker.
The solution Mr. Covey offers towards greatness is called “Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs”. The book is accordingly divided into two sections. The first focuses on “finding your voice” and the second on “inspiring others to find theirs”.
Finding your voice
The essence of this habit is that you will find your voice when you can say you are 100% involved with what you are doing in your life, so that your body, mind, heart and spirit are all engaged in whatever is important to you. To find your voice, you need to examine your natural talent, what you absolutely love to do, what really interests you. And you must listen to the confirming inner voice of your conscience that tells you what is the right thing to do. We can discover our voice because of the 3 gifts we are born with:
Gift 1: The freedom to choose
Gift 2: The natural laws or principles – those that dictate the consequences of behavior. Positive consequences come from fairness, kindness, respect, honesty, integrity, service and contribution.
Gift 3: The four intelligences – mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
Inspiring others to find their voice
When you have found your voice, you can begin inspiring others to do the same – this is really about leadership. Great leaders have always inspired people to be self aware, to find themselves and to find their voice – that is the essence of greatness. People and organizations who have truly found their voices go on to become great.
Covey uses whole person/4 roles paradigm of leadership to explain how to inspire others to find their voices. A “whole person” has four parts: body (PQ), mind (IQ), heart (EQ) and spirit (SQ); discipline, vision, passion and] conscience are the highest manifestation of the 4 parts of a whole person. Similarly, leadership also has 4 roles: modeling, path–finding, aligning and empowering, which are reflection on the needs of the whole person. And leadership in reality has nothing to do with position or level. One is still in industrial age paradigm if he thinks only high level managers should execute leadership. In the knowledge worker age, you can be a “trim-tab” leader regardless of your position.
A trim tab on a boat or plane is the small rudder that turns the big rudder that turns the entire ship. I like this metaphor very much because it presents an accurate definition of those who are not powerful in position or rank but make great influence and impact. To be a trim-tab leader, one really needs to exercise initiative within his or her own Circle of Influence, however small it may be. Taking initiative is a form of self-empowerment. You empower yourself on the issue, problem or challenge at hand. You exercise the appropriate level of initiative of self-empowerment. And there are 7 levels of initiative self-empowerment from “Wait until told”, “Ask”, “Make a recommendation” to simply “Do it”. Depending on the situation, one should decide which level of initiative self-empowerment to apply. The “trim-tab” is a spirit that encourages ownership and innovation. It requires a strong proactive thinking and focus on one’s circle of influence. If the problem lies out of your circle of influence but within other’s, do not hesitate to reach out for help or make recommendations. This “trim-tab” leader part is my favorite in The 8th Habit and is my take-away from the book.
Overall speaking, The 8th Habit contains summaries of the material from Covey’s other books, yet compared with 7 Habits, it is more difficult to read. It reads more like an encyclopedia of Covey’s works, rather than the intuitive flow of the attributes that make a person great. And the 2nd part of The 8th Habit reads more like MBA management /leadership textbook to me. It gives an introduction to major leadership theories and explanations on management tools such as balanced scorecard and 360 degree feedback, which diverges from its original purpose to cultivate an individual “from effectiveness to greatness”. The whole book seems to be more about how to foster personal and organizational leadership instead of offering as many useful tips to cope with life challenges compared with 7 habits. However, the Q&A parts throughout the book, including the “Twenty Most Commonly Asked Questions” since page 318, are interesting to read, and there are quite a few interesting anecdotes and quotes from some of the most fascinating people in history.
Put The 7 Habits and The 8th Habit together – if I had to buy only one among The 7 Habits and The 8th Habit, I’d recommend to save a habit and buy 7. Chances are you may find out that if you execute the seven habits well enough you may not need the 8th at all.