Last updated on July 12th, 2023 at 11:36 pm
From Effectiveness to Greatness
Rating
3/5
Date Started
3-4-2023
Date Completed
4-11-2023
Five Powerful Quotes from the Book
Quote 1
“The 8th Habit, then, is not about adding one more habit to the 7—one that somehow got forgotten. It’s about seeing and harnessing the power of a third dimension to the 7 Habits that meets the central challenge of the new Knowledge Worker Age. This 8th Habit is to Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs…
“Voice is unique personal significance—significance that is revealed as we face our greatest challenges and which makes us equal to them.
“Voice lies at the nexus of talent (your natural gifts and strengths), passion (those things that naturally energize, excite, motivate and inspire you), need (including what the world needs enough to pay you for), and conscience (that still, small voice within that assures you of what is right and that prompts you to actually do it). When you engage in work that taps your talent and fuels your passion—that rises out of a great need in the world that you feel drawn by conscience to meet—therein lies your voice, your calling, your soul’s code.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 2
“If you would like to get the most out of this book and initiate powerful change and growth in your life and organization, I recommend two simple ideas to you. If you will do these two things, I guarantee dramatic results. The first is to teach others what you learn; the second is to systematically apply what you learn—to do it! Almost everyone acknowledges you learn best when you teach another and that your learning is internalized when you live it…
“Also when you teach or share what you’re learning with others, you implicitly commit socially to live what you teach. You will naturally be more motivated to live what you’re learning. This sharing will be a basis for deepening learning, commitment and motivation, making change legitimate, and enrolling a support team. You will also find that sharing creates bonding with people—especially with your children. Have them regularly teach you what they are learning in school. My wife, Sandra, and I have found that doing this simple thing essentially eliminates any need for external motivation with their studies. Those who teach what they are learning are, by far, the greatest students.
“To know and not to do, is really not to know. To learn and not to do is not to learn. In other words, to understand something but not apply it is really not to understand it. It is only in the doing, the applying, that knowledge and understanding are internalized.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 3
“I have also found that by making four simple assumptions in our lives we can immediately begin leading a more balanced, integrated, powerful life. They are simple—one for each part of our nature—but I promise you that if you do them consistently, you will find a new wellspring of strength and integrity to draw on when you need it most.
- “For the body—assume you’ve had a heart attack; now live accordingly.
- “For the mind—assume the half-life of your profession is two years; now prepare accordingly.
- “For the heart—assume everything you say about another, they can overhear; now speak accordingly.
- “For the spirit—assume you have a one-on-one visit with your Creator every quarter; now live accordingly.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 4
“Simply put—at its most elemental and practical level—leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it in themselves. Think about this definition. Isn’t this the essence of the kind of leadership that influences and truly endures?! To communicate the worth and potential of others so clearly, so powerfully and so consistently that they really come to see it in themselves is to set in motion the process of seeing, doing and becoming.
“Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they
come to see it in themselves.
“What a way to think about and to define the irreplaceable role of grandparenting! The most essential role of grandparents is to communicate, in as many ways as possible, the worth and potential of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren clearly that they really believe it and act on that belief. If this spirit suffused our culture and society, the impact on the civilization of the world would be unimaginably magnificent and endless.”
Pithy Summary
Quote 5
“How to create a compelling scoreboard. Through involvement and synergy (modeling the 7 Habits), identify the key measures for your organizational or team goals and make a visual representation of them. The Scoreboard should make three things absolutely clear: From what? To what? By when?
- “List your top priorities or “wildly important goals”—those your team simply must achieve.
- “Create a scoreboard for each one with these elements:
- “The current result (where we are now)
- “The target result (where we need to be)
- “The deadline (by when)
- “The Scoreboard might take the form of a bar graph, a trend line, a pie chart or a Gantt chart. Or it might look like a thermometer or a speedometer or a scale. You decide—but make it visible, dynamic and accessible. Remember also that because ends preexist in the means, you might consider including measures in the Scoreboard regarding principle-centered values.
- “Post the Scoreboard and ask people to review it every day, every week, as appropriate. Meet over it, discuss it, and resolve issues as they come up.
“All team members should be able to see the Scoreboard and watch it change moment by moment, day by day, or week by week. They should be discussing it all the time. They should never really take their minds off it. The compelling Scoreboard has the effect of keeping score in a street game. All of a sudden, the tempo changes. People work faster, conversations change, people adapt quickly to new issues. And you get to the goal more precisely and rapidly.”
Pithy Summary
About the Book
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness – “In the more than twenty-five years since its publication, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has become an international phenomenon with more than twenty-five million copies sold. Tens of millions of people in business, government, and schools have dramatically improved their lives and organizations by applying the principles of Stephen R. Covey’s classic book.
“The world, however, is a vastly changed place. Being effective as individuals and organizations is no longer merely an option—it’s a requirement for survival. But in order to thrive, innovate, excel, and lead in what Covey calls the “New Knowledge Worker Age,” we must build on and move beyond effectiveness. In this era of human history, our call is for greatness—holistic fulfillment, passionate execution, and significant contribution.
“Accessing the higher levels of human genius in today’s new reality requires a change in thinking: a new mindset and a new skill-set—in short, a new habit. The crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs. It is what Covey calls the 8th Habit. The 8th Habit is the answer to the soul’s yearning for greatness, the organization’s imperative for significance and superior results, and humanity’s search for its “voice.””
About the Author
Stephen R. Covey – “Stephen Richards Covey was an eminent American non-fiction author. He was a multitalented personality who was recognized for his work as a successful businessman, educator and an influential public speaker. He is credited for writing one of the most influential business books of twentieth century, titled The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
Additional Resources
Tags
Business | Economics | Nonfiction | Self-Improvement