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StoryShots Summary of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey

About Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey was an internationally respected leadership authority. Time magazine recognized him as one of the 25 Most Influential Americans. He was also a family expert, professor, organizational consultant, and author. Each of these achievements were built upon his strong academic foundation. Covey became an eager participant in school debates and graduated early from high school. He then attended the University of Utah and got a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration followed by an MBA from Harvard University. He diverted his attention from business studies to doctoral studies in religion. Covey’s most popular book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its publication in 1989.

Part I - Paradigms and Principles

Introduction

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People challenges traditional self-help that encourages personality ethics, like image and attitude. Covey suggests that readers use a character ethic instead. A character ethic relies on timeless principles, like courage and integrity. To make this transition, you will have to go through what Covey calls a paradigm shift. An effective person has learned to make the paradigm shift from outside in to inside out. They have progressed along the growth continuum from dependence to independence and finally to interdependence. An effective person has also found the balance of production while increasing their capability to produce. To become an effective person, you have to encourage a paradigm shift in your worldview by adopting the seven habits of highly effective people.

The first three habits are habits of self-mastery, or private victories. These are:

Be Proactive

Begin With the End in Mind

Put First Things First

These three must come first. After adopting these habits, you can use the three habits of public victories. These three habits are built on interdependence. These are:

Think Win-Win

Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Synergize

The last habit relies on continuous improvement and is key to the proper functioning and renewal of the first six. This habit is:

Sharpen the Saw

Part II - Private Victory

Habit 1: Be Proactive

“Until a person can say deeply and honestly, ‘I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday,’ that person cannot say, ‘I choose otherwise.’� - Stephen Covey

Covey encourages you to reconsider your dictionary definition of proactive. You must also forget how you have learned to think about this word not only in your personal life but also in your work.

First, we cannot understand proactivity without understanding human behavior. The widely accepted paradigms of human behavior are:

1) Genetic determinism (you are who you are due to your genes)

2) Psychic determinism (your childhood and upbringing shaped your personality)

3) Environmental determinism...