Creating Clarity from Chaos » Stephen R Covey http://businessclarity.net A Resource for Business, Career & Personal Development Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:22:42 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People http://businessclarity.net/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/ http://businessclarity.net/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/#comments Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:33:17 +0000 ged http://businessclarity.net/?p=865   Title: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People   Author: Stephen R Covey is a past professor (At Brigham Young University) as the professor of organisational behaviour and business studies. He is the author of several books and this is one of his most famous.   Category:
  • Business
  • Self Development
  What the book is about:   As you would expect from the title the book discusses the seven habits in depth. The habits encompass all areas of our life (And not just our work).1. Be Proactive, 2. Begin with the end in mind, 3. Put first things first, 4. Think Win/Win, 5. Seek first to understand, Then to be understood, 6.Synergize, 7. Sharpening the saw.

The habits are to be addressed in their specific order. The first three habits are character habits and the next three are personality habits. It is important to build a strong foundation in our character before we progress to our personality.

The method to the seventh habit is Learn it, Do it and then Teach it.

Instead of continuing to cut a tree down with a blunt saw it would make sense to stop cutting and take the time sharpen the saw before continuing. In the same vein, habit seven is about taking the time to preserve and enhance our assets of physical, spiritual, mental and emotional well being instead of continuing blindly on our current paths.

He compares the principles in the book to a lighthouse in that they don’t move either. There is a part in the book where the captain of a large ship is signalling an approaching boat to move (It turns out the approaching boat is actually a lighthouse),   Would I buy this book:

YES

    A wealth of resources that clarifies its points with simplified diagrams.   What I liked about this book:   I liked his example of paradigm shifts (at the start of the book), the way his view went from irritation at the unruly children on the tube to wanting to help the father when he found out their mother had just died.   What I thought could have been improved in this book:   As a worldwide best seller I couldn’t find anything major to improve on. Should anyone else have a view on things that could have been improved, please feel free to comment on my blog.   Formats available:  
  • Hard Back 
  • Paper Back
  • Audio book
  • Audio Download
  • Kindle
  Where available:   http://www.fishpond.co.nz/ www.thenile.co.nz Shop at Amazon.com! www.Audible.com ]]> http://businessclarity.net/the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/feed/ 1