7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, demonstrates the morals and ideals needed in order to be successful. Covey does not just focus on success overall, but he focuses on how people need to make personal improvements in order to make beneficial strides in their community. Throughout this book, he breaks down his ideas or “habits” into seven different chapters which are to be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand, then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw. A common theme between all these habits is listening which is an essential part of being successful. In order to be a leader and successful in this world, communication is going to be a huge …show more content…
Listening has a huge impact on being proactive due to the fact you can only be proactive and take initiative after you have a level understanding of knowing what task needs to be done. Listening is the key to being proactive successfully and the tip that directly correlates is to clarify. While listening and having clarity on what is needed to be known, being proactive should be made easier and you should have the knowledge to take initiative in your life. The second chapter is beginning with the end in mind. This chapter talks about making sure that when you start a task, you have a clear understanding on what you want the destination or outcome to be. Listening plays a huge role in this, especially the listening tip that points out remembering. Remember the points of the message for future application which sums up the whole aspect of the chapter. Remember what the end goal is and why you are going through the steps you are taking. The third chapter is entitled Put First Things First and explains that people need to prioritize their day to day actions based on what is important. The listening tool used to complete this habit effectively is paraphrasing which is making sure you understand the important and main point of what is needed and to get them done. Paraphrasing the important topics leads to prioritizing what needs to be done. The fourth chapter is to Think Win-Win. This means to make sure, in a situation, that both parties are mutually benefitted and satisfied from the decision made. You need all of the listening skills in order to execute the habit in this chapter. Specifically probing for missing information because while thinking Win-Win, you have to take into account all of the information that you might not know right off the top. You have to really pay attention, listen, and be engaged in order to think Win-Win,