My introduction to Stephen Covey was in 2008, when I started my administrative career in the top ranking private school in The Bahamas. Stephen Covey’s book – 7 Habits and Highly Effective People as well as the ‘Leader In Me’ has profoundly changed my life and the lives of thousands of students, staff and parents during the past 10 years.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has been a bestselling book throughout the world, and Queen’s College set out to bring a leadership process to its staff and students, turning everyone into leaders.
Despite the fact that Stephen Covey is no longer with us, the principles, statements and principles he highlighted while he was here are. He is still speaking to us today.
Stephen Richards Covey was born on October 24, 1932. He was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker but most famous for his most popular book – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
In the book, he highlights and expands on seven principles that, when applied to your life, bring about a greater sense of self, and improvement in relationships and enable the leader in you to come forth. Although simple when you think about each one, they are powerful truths that are based on principles that withstand the test of time. They are:
- Be Proactive – We are in charge or ourselves, our actions and our responses. We choose to responsibility for our choices
- Begin with the End in Mind – Start with a clear destination. We can use our imagination to develop a vision of what we want to become and use our conscience to decide what values will guide us.
- Put First Things First -We must have the discipline to prioritize our day-to-day actions based on what is most important, not what is most urgent.
- Think Win-Win – In order to establish effective interdependent relationships, we must commit to creating Win-Win situations that are mutually beneficial and satisfying to each party.
- Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood – Before we can offer advice, suggest solutions, or effectively interact with another person in any way, we must seek to deeply understand them and their perspective through empathic listening.
- Synergize – When one plus one equals three or more and the whole is great than the sum of its parts.
- Sharpen the Saw – We must devote the time to renewing ourselves physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially.
- Habits 1, 2, and 3 are focused on self-mastery and moving from dependence to independence.
- Habits 4, 5, and 6 are focused on developing teamwork, collaboration, and communication skills, and moving from independence to interdependence.
- Habit 7 is focused on continuous growth and improvement and embodies all the other habits.
THE COVEY MINDSET
Covey believed that the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. And, in order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves. In order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions.
Stephen Covey was a phenomenal speaker, captivating audiences with his soft, gentle yet commanding voice. His passion for story telling painted pictures in your mind that enabled you to get whatever point he was making. Here are some of the quotes from Stephen Covey over his years of imparting wisdom to the world:
9 STEPHEN COVEY QUOTES
Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be a part of the solution, not the problem.
To achieve goals you’ve never achieved before, you need to start doing things you’ve never done before.
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.
I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.
The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
While we cannot always choose what happens to us, we can choose our responses.
To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you’re going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.
You can’t change the fruit without changing the root.
Although Stephen Covey died in on July 16, 2012, just three days after my 40th birthday, his legend remains as strong today, and will continue to live on through his books.
It’s also not too late to start saving the environment. What is important is just to start. The old adage goes “a journey of a hundred miles begins with a single step.” If you have been wondering what you can do to start saving the environment, or how you can take steps to go green, you can begin now on your journey to a more eco-friendly lifestyle – the world will thank you for it. Learn how to live more eco-friendly by reading this article.
You, too can start living the island life by checking out these free videos.
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