Fig 1
Fig 2
“Each of us is great insofar as we perceive and act on the infinite possibilities which lie undiscovered and unrecognized about us.”
· It’s important to open your gifts. From birth you have been invested by God with the seeds of greatness, and you have the incredible privilege to develop those seeds and express your talent
· Spiritual intelligence (SQ) is important. Our society tests for mental intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ), but you’ll really begin to experience power for living when you concentrate on and develop your spiritual intelligence. The best way I know of to do this is through a personal relationship with God.
· Leaders need to have not only a vision for themselves and their organization; they also must have a vision for those they lead. Never forget that leadership is, as Stephen Covey notes, “communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it themselves.”
According to Covey, effectiveness is the tool for survival in today’s fast-paced environment. However, in order to truly become excellent and succeed in the new Knowledge Worker Age, you must build on and move beyond effectiveness and into greatness. You must find your own voice and inspire others to find their own voices as well.
The 8th Habit – Stephen R. Covey
The pain, the problem and the solution
The pain
People become dissatisfied with their jobs for various reasons. These reasons include stress, pressure, terrible bosses, feelings of frustration, and a host of other things. Overworked, underpaid and under-appreciated employees end up affecting the productivity and effectiveness of an organization adversely. More and more companies are expecting their employees to produce more for less. Furthermore, some companies do not utilize their employees’ talents and intelligence to the full extreme. As a result, employees feel that they are not growing within the company. Even worse, employees are left in the dark without a clear vision of where the company is headed.
The problem
New developments in technology and globalization have ushered in changes in the way people think and operate. The 20th century was known as the Industrial
Age. As the new millennium unfolds, civilization is now moving towards a new age—the age of information or the Knowledge Worker Age. This is where the problem begins. Managers still insist on operating under the controlling
Mindset of the industrial age. Employees are treated as objects that can be controlled. Lower-level staff members are also not given the opportunity to act on a problem or to come up with solutions on their own. This paradigm leads to a culture of co-dependency and compliancy. In this culture, a worker loses his voice because he believes that his views are not significant enough.
The solution
Find your voice
• Recognize and develop your true nature.
• Express your voice through vision, discipline, passion and conscience.
Find your voice
Discover your voice—unopened birth-gifts
Each individual is born with the potential to be great. What you do with this potential is up to you. You must remember that the more you use and expand your present talents, the more capacity you are given, and the greater your ability becomes.
Three most important gifts
1. Freedom and power to choose. You have the power to direct your own life based on your own values.
2. Natural laws or principles. These are universal, timeless, inarguable principles that transcend culture and geography. These principles include kindness, fairness, and honesty.
3. Four intelligences / capacities.
→ Mental Intelligence (IQ).
→ Physical Intelligence (PQ).
→ Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
→ Spiritual Intelligence (SQ).
You can develop the four intelligences by assuming
1. For the mind—assume that the half-life of your profession is two years; now prepare accordingly.
2. For the body—assume that you have a heart attack; now live accordingly.
3. For the heart—assume that everything you say about another can be overheard; now speak accordingly.
4. For the spirit—assume that you have to attend a one-on-one meeting with God every quarter; now live accordingly.
Express your voice—vision, discipline, passion and conscience
All great achievers have expanded their four innate human intelligences and capacities into:
1. Vision (mental)
Seeing with your mind what is possible in yourself, in people, projects, causes, endeavors, and enterprises.
2. Discipline (physical)
Commitment—bringing vision into reality.
3. Passion (emotional)
It is the fire or the drive that sustains the discipline to achieve the vision.
4. Conscience (spiritual)
The guiding force—the moral compass of what is right and wrong. These expressions represent the highest means of expressing your voice. The illustration in Fig 1 represents a whole person with four basic needs and four capacities and the highest manifestations, all representing the four dimensions of voice.
· It’s important to open your gifts. From birth you have been invested by God with the seeds of greatness, and you have the incredible privilege to develop those seeds and express your talent
· Spiritual intelligence (SQ) is important. Our society tests for mental intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ), but you’ll really begin to experience power for living when you concentrate on and develop your spiritual intelligence. The best way I know of to do this is through a personal relationship with God.
· Leaders need to have not only a vision for themselves and their organization; they also must have a vision for those they lead. Never forget that leadership is, as Stephen Covey notes, “communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it themselves.”
According to Covey, effectiveness is the tool for survival in today’s fast-paced environment. However, in order to truly become excellent and succeed in the new Knowledge Worker Age, you must build on and move beyond effectiveness and into greatness. You must find your own voice and inspire others to find their own voices as well.
The 8th Habit – Stephen R. Covey
The pain, the problem and the solution
The pain
People become dissatisfied with their jobs for various reasons. These reasons include stress, pressure, terrible bosses, feelings of frustration, and a host of other things. Overworked, underpaid and under-appreciated employees end up affecting the productivity and effectiveness of an organization adversely. More and more companies are expecting their employees to produce more for less. Furthermore, some companies do not utilize their employees’ talents and intelligence to the full extreme. As a result, employees feel that they are not growing within the company. Even worse, employees are left in the dark without a clear vision of where the company is headed.
The problem
New developments in technology and globalization have ushered in changes in the way people think and operate. The 20th century was known as the Industrial
Age. As the new millennium unfolds, civilization is now moving towards a new age—the age of information or the Knowledge Worker Age. This is where the problem begins. Managers still insist on operating under the controlling
Mindset of the industrial age. Employees are treated as objects that can be controlled. Lower-level staff members are also not given the opportunity to act on a problem or to come up with solutions on their own. This paradigm leads to a culture of co-dependency and compliancy. In this culture, a worker loses his voice because he believes that his views are not significant enough.
The solution
Find your voice
• Recognize and develop your true nature.
• Express your voice through vision, discipline, passion and conscience.
Find your voice
Discover your voice—unopened birth-gifts
Each individual is born with the potential to be great. What you do with this potential is up to you. You must remember that the more you use and expand your present talents, the more capacity you are given, and the greater your ability becomes.
Three most important gifts
1. Freedom and power to choose. You have the power to direct your own life based on your own values.
2. Natural laws or principles. These are universal, timeless, inarguable principles that transcend culture and geography. These principles include kindness, fairness, and honesty.
3. Four intelligences / capacities.
→ Mental Intelligence (IQ).
→ Physical Intelligence (PQ).
→ Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
→ Spiritual Intelligence (SQ).
You can develop the four intelligences by assuming
1. For the mind—assume that the half-life of your profession is two years; now prepare accordingly.
2. For the body—assume that you have a heart attack; now live accordingly.
3. For the heart—assume that everything you say about another can be overheard; now speak accordingly.
4. For the spirit—assume that you have to attend a one-on-one meeting with God every quarter; now live accordingly.
Express your voice—vision, discipline, passion and conscience
All great achievers have expanded their four innate human intelligences and capacities into:
1. Vision (mental)
Seeing with your mind what is possible in yourself, in people, projects, causes, endeavors, and enterprises.
2. Discipline (physical)
Commitment—bringing vision into reality.
3. Passion (emotional)
It is the fire or the drive that sustains the discipline to achieve the vision.
4. Conscience (spiritual)
The guiding force—the moral compass of what is right and wrong. These expressions represent the highest means of expressing your voice. The illustration in Fig 1 represents a whole person with four basic needs and four capacities and the highest manifestations, all representing the four dimensions of voice.
Inspire others to find their voice
Inspiring others to find their voice—the leadership challenge
Leadership is defined as communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. In other words, a leader inspires others to
develop their potential and be the best that they can be.
Management and leadership
Leadership and management are both important in an organization. In fact, one cannot be effective without the other. You must, however, learn to differentiate between the two. Leaders enable a person to be the best that he could possibly be. Leaders
Empower people. Managers, on the other hand, run corporations. Managers organize.
In other words, you manage things while you lead people.
Chronic and acute problems
An organization, like a person, has two kinds of problems—the chronic (continuing, underlying and casual) and the acute (painful, symptomatic and debilitating).
Fig 2 are ways on predicting four chronic problems of an organization and their acute symptoms:
Leadership response (four roles of leadership)
1. Modeling (conscience/spirit): setting a good example.
2. Path finding (vision/mind): jointly determine the course.
3. Aligning (discipline/body): set up and manage a system to stay in course
4. Empowering (passion/heart): focus on results, get out of people’s way, give advice when requested.
Focus—modeling and pathfinding
The voice of influence—be a trim-tab
The center of any leadership method is modeling. Modeling is not the work of a sole individual. Rather, it must be the job of the entire team. Group identification is based on involvement, whether directly or indirectly.
A trim-tab
A trim-tab is a “rudder on the rudder” of a ship. It is what makes it easier to turn the rudder, and, in turn, easier and quicker to turn the ship. To be a trim-tab leader, you must take the initiative to extend your circle of influence no matter how small it may be. You must, however, be sensitive and wise while you take initiative. Practice perfect timing. Do not step on other people’s toes and do not portray negativity.
Seven levels of initiative or self-empowerment
1. Wait until you are told. This will cause your area of influence to become smaller. Your voice will not be heard. People under this influence tend to become insecure and engage in destructive behaviors such as criticizing, complaining, comparing, competing and contending.
2. Ask. Ask about something within your job description but outside your circle of influence. This may be impressive and can increase your area of influence.
3. Make a recommendation. There are five basic steps to making a recommendation:
→ Step one: analyze the problem.
→ Step two: come up with alternative and recommended solutions.
→ Step three: develop recommended steps to execute the solutions.
→ Step four: incorporate an awareness of all realities.
→ Step five: make a recommendation in a way that only requires approval by a single signature.
4. I intend to. This goes beyond making a recommendation. You must be prepared to carry out the action or plan once it has been approved.
5. Do it and report immediately. Do an evaluation and submit it to people who need to know.
6. Do it and report periodically. Self assessment (within job description and circle of influence).
7. Do it.
The voice of trustworthiness—modeling character and competence
A leader’s character can make or break an organization. A person with integrity and one who is trusted by his peers and employees will be seen as a good leader. Trustworthiness is an important factor in any relationship—personal and professional. It is the glue that holds together a family and an organization.
Personal trustworthiness
Trustworthiness comes from character and competence. There are three aspects of character that build trustworthiness:
1. Integrity: you incorporate principles and natural laws when dealing with people. You are honest and you keep promises made to yourself and to others.
2. Maturity: you can deal with difficult issues with compassion.
3. Abundance mentality: you see life as full of opportunities. You don’t compare yourself with others and you are sincerely happy for other people’s success.
The three aspects of competence are
1. Technical competence: the skill and knowledge required to finish a task
2. Conceptual knowledge: the ability to see the big picture.
3. Interdependency: the awareness that everything in life is interconnected.
Modeling is living The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
1. Be proactive: take the initiative and be responsible for the choices you make.
2. Begin with the end in mind: have a clear purpose or goal.
3. Put first things first: prioritize and organize.
4. Think win-win: seek mutual respect in every interaction.
5. Seek first to understand, than be understood.
6. Synergize.
7. Sharpen the saw: undergo constant renewal in the four basic areas of life (physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual).
The voice of speed and trust
Seeking to expand the circle of influence and inspiring others to find their voice means that you have to build strong relationships. The higher the trust one earns, the easier it would be for you to communicate with people.
Moral authority and the speed of trust
The Fig 3 illustrates what Covey calls the Emotional Bank Account. These ten key deposits or withdrawals can either destroy or build relationships.
The ten deposits epitomize principles essential to human relationships with the following common denominators:
1. Initiative: made up of willpower and determination.
2. The presence of humility and absence of selfishness.
3. Requires sacrifice.
Blending voices—searching for the third alternative
The Win-Win mindset is the principle behind the third alternative. It is not important for both parties to think win-win. Only one party has to believe in this mindset. That one party must prepare the other party by practicing empathy and deep listening until the other party feels trust.
The skill set of searching for the third alternative
The most important skill in life is communication and this can be broken down into four categories—reading, writing, speaking and listening. Of the four, listening represents 40 to 50 percent of communication time. Unfortunately, only a miniscule percentage of people have been trained formally on how to listen. Below are the five levels of listening:
1. Ignoring.
2. Pretending to listen.
3. Selective listening.
4. Attentive listening.
5. Emphatic listening.
Two steps to searching for a third alternative
1. You must be willing to search for a solution that is infinitely better than what all parties have proposed.
2. You must agree to one simple ground rule—no one can make his or her point until they have restated the other person’s point to his or her satisfaction.
One voice—pathfinding shared vision, values and strategy
The 8th Habit is a combination of attitude, skill and knowledge. To be a great leader you need more than your trustworthiness. You need to be able to guide people on how to become better individuals. People need a model to see how they can work and lead in a different way.
Pathfinding is the toughest undertaking of all since you have to deal with many issues, personalities, agendas, levels of trust and egos. To fully comprehend and execute the pathfinding role, you must know and wrestle with four realities. You need to clarify these four realities before you can focus on where the organization is heading.
The four realities
1. Market realities: how do the people in the organization perceive the marketplace?
2. Core competencies: what are your unique strengths?
3. Stakeholder wants and needs. Target consumers, suppliers, owners, and employee needs.
4. V alues: central purpose of the organization.
Pathfinding (focus) tools—the mission statement and strategic plan
Through group interaction, create a written mission statement and a strategic plan. A mission statement should include your sense of purpose, your vision and your values. This is your goal—your roadmap.
A strategic plan describes how you will provide value to your customers and stakeholders. This is your focus. Your strategic plan tells you how to be on track.
Empowered mission statements are usually produced when there are enough people who are fully informed, who interact freely and synergistically, and are in an environment of high trust.
Execution—alignment and empowering
The voice and the discipline of execution—aligning goals and systems for results
The second major source of trust is the organization. However, an organization requires both organizational character and organizational competence.
These are the very principles that people have built into their value systems. These principles are the basis for designing structures, systems, processes and personal values aligned with organizational values. Discipline is needed at this phase. You need to be able to align your structures, systems, processes and culture to be able to realize your vision. Aligning requires constant vigilance. It requires constant adjustments due
to changes in realities. Systems must be changed to keep up with the times but must also be based on unchanging universal principles. One alignment tool that you can use is the Balance Score Card feedback system. This system can inform you if your strategy is still in-line with your mission, or if you are still on track in meeting your goals.
The empowering voice—releasing passion and talent
Empowerment is the result of personal and organizational trustworthiness. It allows people to take control, manage and organize their lives and careers. When people are empowered, the leader ceases to be the boss. He becomes a servant to the organization. It shows that the leader is not afraid of losing control. Rather, the leader is giving his people the power to take control of the things that directly affect them.
Leaders create a much-higher degree of flexibility, adaptability and creativity by focusing on the maturity, character and competence of each team member.
Empowerment and performance appraisal
1. How is it going?
2. How are you learning?
3. What are your goals?
4. How can I help you?
5. How am I doing as a helper?
The age of wisdom
The 8th Habit and the sweet spot
The 8th Habit gives you the key to understand and unleash both your own potential and the potential of the other people around you. As a review, you must remember what part each role plays and their importance:
1. Modeling: inspires trust without expecting it.
2. Pathfinding: creates order without demanding it.
3. Aligning: produces institutionalized moral authority.
4. Empowering: unleashes human potential without external motivation. Modeling and pathfinding give you focus. Aligning and empowerment, on the other hand, make things happen.
Six core drivers to execution
1. Clarity.
2. Commitment.
3. Translation.
4. Enabling.
5. Synergy.
6. Accountability.
The four disciplines of execution
1. Focus on the wildly important.
2. Create a compelling scoreboard.
3. Translate lofty goals into specific action.
4. Hold each other accountable all of the time.
Final words
The seven habits you have learned from Stephen Covey’s are still relevant. However, the Knowledge Worker Age calls for the need of an 8th Habit that can help you further in your journey towards personal and organizational excellence.
You must find your voice and inspire others to find theirs. Start by creating your own personal significance. After you have done so, inspire others to do so as well. If you are managing a team, create a trusting work environment where people search for win-win solutions and share visions. With the 8th Habit, what was good can only get so much better.
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