Saint Joseph Institute of Technology: Book Review

Saint Joseph Institute of Technology
Montilla Boulevard, Butuan City
Name : VANGIE L. PANLAAN

Subject : MA 105 Management & Supervision of Instructions
School : GRADUATE SCHOOL
Instructor : DR. Susan A. Cuizon
Title of Article: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in
Personal Change
Book Review
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal
Change
Stephen Richards Covey
Stephen Richards Coveys, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was first

published in 1989. It is a business and self-help book which presents an
approach to being effective in attaining goals by aligning oneself to what he
calls "true north" principles of a character ethic that he presents as universal and
timeless.
Covey's best-known book has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide since
its first publication in 1989. It has a self-help subject and a nonfiction genre
with 381 pages. It was published by Free Press with ISBN0-7432-6951-9.
SUMMARY:
In this book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey
presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal
and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes,
Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service,
and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and
the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change
creates.
This book explains 7 Habits that can make a person more effective personally,
professionally, and in family life. Covey shows how to build the healthy
relationships that are key to an effective life. This classic is well worth reading
for its perspective and practical advice.
The 7 Habits
Habit 1: Be Proactive
You choose how to respond to what life throws at you. Take responsibility for
your actions.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Choose your short-term, daily behavior according to the plan you have for your
entire life. Think about the legacy you want to leave. Put things in perspective;
what would you want people to say at your funeral?
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Daily planning is too narrow and short-sighted. Weekly planning gives a better
big-picture perspective of your goals, and allows for the flexibility to deal with
the things that will inevitably come up.
People are more important than things, so plan your time accordingly. Be
efficient with things, but effective with people. You can't be efficient with
relationships; they take time.
Only spend time on things that align with your deep values. Don't waste time on
other things, even if it means saying no to requests. Don't prioritize your
schedule; schedule your priorities.
Think of tasks in terms of urgency and importance. Focus on the important,

even though they seem less urgent. Think preventatively to keep tasks from ever
becoming urgent.
Use stewardship delegation instead of "gofer" delegation; teach a person to be

the steward of the task you assign to them, rather than constantly telling them to
"go for this" or "go for that".
Habit 4: Think Win/Win
Most of life requires cooperation, not competition. Work together with co-
workers, friends, and family for mutual benefit. Approach everything in terms
of "win/win or no deal"; if you can't reach a deal in which both parties feel
they're winning, don't make a deal at all.
Think in terms of the Abundance Mentality rather than the Scarcity Mentality;
the quest for recognition, credit, power, and profit isn't a zero-sum game. Be
happy when others succeed.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be understood
Listen with the intent to understand, not to reply. Diagnose before you
prescribe.
To understand others, listen with empathy. To be understood, present your views

according to:
ethos: personal credibility

pathos: emotional alignment with the other person
logos: logical reasoning
You can't motivate people by appealing to satisfied needs (money, status, etc.);
only unsatisfied needs motivate.
Habit 6: Synergize.
Value the differences in relationships. Oneness is not sameness, its

complementariness. Unity is not uniformity.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Renew and improve in yourself in the following categories, by spending at least

an hour each day.
Physical: Eat right and exercise

Spiritual: Find and carry an inner peace. Meditate, read scripture, or spend
time in nature.
Mental: Read good literature to gain the insights of others. Write, organize,
and plan.
Social/emotional: Understand others. Serve others, at work or through
volunteering
MY REVIEW:
This was recommended reading following on from a course and I found it to be

an odd mix of the homely and the disturbing. On the whole it's probably the
dogmatic air of absolute certainty that I find disturbing, that and the way he
describes how he reduced his son to tears over keeping the garden in good
order.
Reading this book is rather like having a very one-sided conversation with a
particularly earnest and opinionated drunk who isn't shy to jab you in the chest
with a fore-finger to underline a point.
That's not to say that the seven habits are bad, far from it. They are a quite
reasonable and potentially useful set of habits. Whether effective people tend to
have these habits or if having these habits will make you more effective is
presumed but not proven by this at all. The power of the argument and the vast
number of sales lies in how the seven habits tap into our moral beliefs about the
kind of habits we want to be able to have to make us successful, and more to the
point the kind of habits that we want to believe make people successful, and in
the great tradition of self-help.
No war, want, injustice, disease, political, economic or social structure can

hinder the truly just man girt by the seven habits. Business in this account is a
battlefield in the moral universe, the victor, a sage at least if not a saint.
Be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win/win,
seek first to understand and then to be understood, synergies and sharpen the
saw are the seven habits. That's the meat of the book in one sentence.

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Saint Joseph Institute of Technology

Montilla Boulevard, Butuan City

Name : VANGIE L. PANLAAN

Stephen Richards Coveys, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was first

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Think of tasks in terms of urgency and importance. Focus on the important,

Use stewardship delegation instead of "gofer" delegation; teach a person to be

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be understood

To understand others, listen with empathy. To be understood, present your views

ethos: personal credibility

Value the differences in relationships. Oneness is not sameness, its

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Renew and improve in yourself in the following categories, by spending at least

Physical: Eat right and exercise

This was recommended reading following on from a course and I found it to be

No war, want, injustice, disease, political, economic or social structure can

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