If the exercises arent familiar to you and youd like some trainer notes, click here to

make a request.

1. Be proactive Talent bingo, use specially created bingo cards to encourage

mixing in your group whereby students must work the room to fill their card.
2. Begin with the end in mind Egg drop, using just drinking straws and a length
of duct tape prevent an egg from breaking when dropped from 2 meters.
3. Put first things first respond to a Disaster Scenario prioritising what to keep
and what to do.
4. Think win-win Sweet exchange, negotiate with other teams to collect a
valuable set of sweets.
5. Seek first to understand Circle of Questions, listen to the same question
answered in different ways to build deeper relationships.
6. Synergise Team Juggling, achieve the impossible by working together.
7. Sharpen the saw Observed Feedback, conclude these exercises by giving
and receiving constructive observations from peers.

10 Big Ideas from The 7 Habits of

Highly Effective People
By
JD
2
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The law of the harvest governs; we will always reap what

we sowno more, no less Stephen Covey

Are you ready for some powerful and profound change in

your life?
Stephen Covey reveals proven practices for change in his best-selling book, The
7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.

This is one of those books of truths that has forever change the world.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey presents a holistic, integrated,

and principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems.

The 7 habits are based on principles, and with the principles, Covey provides us
with a simple and reliable way to adapt to change, along with the wisdom and
power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

With that in mind, here are 10 big ideas from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People

1. The Seven Habits Habits of Effectiveness.

Here are the 7 habits of highly effective people, according to Covey:

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win/win
5. Seek to Understand, Then to be Understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw

Here is a summary of the each of the 7 habits of highly effective people.

The habits are principle-based and empower people through more continuous
learning and growth.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Because they are based on principles, they bring the maximum long-term
beneficial results possible. They become the basis of a persons character
creating an empowering center of correct maps from which an individual can
effectively solve problems, maximize opportunities, and continually learn and
integrate other principles in an upward spiral of growth.

2. The Four Quadrants of Time Management.

Covey introduces a simple matrix of Urgent and Important to look at our daily
activities and how we spend our time:

Quadrant I: Urgent, Important

Quadrant II: Not Urgent, Important
Quadrant III: Urgent, Not Important
Quadrant IV: Not urgent, Not Important

Here are example activities based on each quadrant:

Urgent Not Urgent

Important Quadrant I Quadrant II

Crisis Prevention, PC activities

Pressing problems Relationship building
Deadline-driven projects Recognizing new opportunities
Planning, recreation

Not Quadrant III Quadrant IV

Important
Interruptions, some calls Trivia, busy work
Some mail, some reports Some mail
Some meetings Some phone calls
Proximate, pressing matters Time wasters
 Popular activities Pleasant activities

Here is a simple way to think about the quadrants and how you characterize
your time:

People who manage their lives by crisis spend 90% of their time in
Quadrant I and most of the remaining 10% is in Quadrant Iv, with only
negligible attention pad to Quadrants II and III.
Other people spend a great deal of time in Quadrant III, thinking they
are in Quadrant I.
People who spend time almost exclusively in Quadrants III and IV lead
irresponsible lives.

Where do effective people spend their time?

They spend their time in Quadrant II.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Effective people stay out of Quadrants II and IV because, urgent or not, they
arent important. They also shrink Quadrant I down to size by spending
more time in Quadrant II.

Quadrant II is the heart of personal management. It deals with things that are
not urgent, but are important.

3. Character Ethic vs. Personality Ethic.

The Personality Ethic is based on attitudes, skills, and techniques. The
Character Ethic is based on values, attributes, and principles.
Based on his research, Covey concluded that, while Personality Ethic provides
some useful tools, Character Ethic is the key to lasting success from the inside
out.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

In stark contrast, almost all the literature in the first 150 years or so focused
on what could be called the Character Ethic as the foundation of successthings
like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry,
simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule. Benjamin Franklins autobiography is
representative of that that literature. It is, basically, the story of one mans
effort to integrate certain principles and habits deep within his nature.

The Character Ethic taught that thee are basic principles of effective living, and
that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as
they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.

But shortly after World War I the basic view of success shifted away from the
Character Ethic to what we might call the Personality Ethic. Success became
more a function of personality, of public image, of attitudes and behaviors, skills
and techniques, that lubricate the processes of human interaction. This
Personality Ethic essentially took two paths: one was human and public
relations techniques, and the other was positive mental attitude (PMA). Some
of this philosophy was expressed as Your attitude determines your altitude,
Smiling wins more friends than frowning, and Whatever the mind of man can
conceive and believe it can achieve.'

4. Increase the Gap Between Stimulus and

Response.
The more space we can create between the stimulus and the response, the
more we can choose more effective responses.
Otherwise, we are just in constant reaction mode.

By creating some space, we can engage more of our rational thinking, evaluate
options, and think through our outcomes.

In essence, we can go from reacting to responding.

The gap between stimulus and response is our opportunity to choose more
effective responses.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Between stimulus and response, man has the freedom to choose.

Within the freedom to choose and those endowments that make us uniquely
human. In addition to self-awareness, we have imaginationthe ability to
create in our minds beyond our present reality. We have consciencea deep
inner awareness of right and wrong, of the principles that govern our behavior,
and a sense of the degree to which our thoughts and actions are in harmony
with them. And we have independent willthe ability to act based on our self-
awareness, free of all other influences.

Our unique human endowments lift us above the animal world. The extent to
which we exercise and develop these endowments empowers us to fulfill our
uniquely human potential. Between stimulus and response is our greatest
powerthe freedom to choose.

5. All Things are Created Twice.

First we envision it, and then we make it happen. We see it in our minds eye
or we create it in our imagination, and then we figure out how to bring the idea
to life.
Along the same lines, we need to think through what we want to accomplish or
what the outcome is that we want to achieve.

Otherwise, we climb the wrong ladder or go through the motions, only to find
out that its not what we had in mind at all.

We can save a lot of time and energy, by thinking through and getting clarity of
what our desired outcome is.

In essence, we should begin with the end in mind.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Begin with the end in mind is based on the principle that all things are created
twice. Theres a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all
things.

Take the construction of a home, for example. You create it in every detail
before you ever hammer the first nail into place. You try to get a very clear
sense of what kind of house you want. If you want a family-centered home,
you plan to put a family room where it would be a natural gathering place. You
plan sliding doors and a patio to play outside. You work with ideas. You work
with your mind until you get a clear image of what you want to build.

Then you reduce it to blueprint and develop construction plans. All of this is
done before the earth is touched. If not, then in the second creation, the
physical creation, you will have to make expensive change that may double the
cost of your home.

The carpenters rule is measure twice, cut once. You have to make sure that
the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that youve thought
everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to
the construction shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the
day. You begin with the end in mind.

6. The Five Dimensions of Win/Win.

Here are the five dimensions that enable Win/Win:

1. Dimension 1: Character
2. Dimension 2: Relationships
3. Dimension 3: Agreements
4. Dimension 4: Support Systems
5. Dimension 5: Processes

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Think Win/Win is the habit of interpersonal leadership. It involves the exercise
of each of the unique human endowmentsself-awareness, imagination,
conscience, and independent willin our relationships with others. It involves
mutual learning, mutual influence, mutual benefits.

It takes great courage as well as consideration to create these mutual benefits,

particularly if were interacting with others who are deeply scripted in
Win/Lose. That is why the habit involves principles of interpersonal
leadership. Effective interpersonal leadership requires the vision, the proactive
initiative and the security, guidance, wisdom, and power that come from
principle-centered leadership.

The principle of Win/Win is fundamental to success in all our interactions, and it

embraces five interdependent dimensions of life. It begins with character and
moves toward relationships, out of which flow agreements. It is nurtured in an
environment where structure and systems are based on Win/Win. And it
involves process; we cannot achieve Win/Win ends with Win/Lose or Lose/Win
means.
7. Expand Your Circle of Influence.
If we want to increase our effectiveness, we need to expand our sphere of
influence. To expand our sphere of influence, we start by focusing on what we
control and let the rest go.

If we worry about everything that we dont control, then we give up our power
to act and make a difference.

This also means thinking globally, but acting locallyacting on the things that
we have control over, which, often times, really is our self.

The fastest way to change any situation is to change yourself.

If you want to improve your effectiveness and improve your influence and
impact, then focus on being a proactive person by focusing your efforts within
your Circle of Influence.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Another excellent way to become more self-aware regarding our own

degree of proactivity is to look at where we focus our time and energy. We
each have a wide range of concernsour health, our children, problems at work,
the national debt, nuclear war. We could separate those from things in which
we have no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a Circle of
Concern.

As we look at those things within our Circle of Concern, it becomes apparent

that there are some things over which we have no real control and
others that we can do something about. We could identify those concerns
in the latter group by circumscribing them within a smaller Circle of Influence.
By determining which of these two circles is the focus of most of our time and
energy, we can discover much about the degree of our proactivity.

Proactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work
on things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive,
enlarging and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase.

Reactive people on the other hand, focus their efforts in the Circle of
Concern. They focus on the weakness of other other people, the problems in
the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their
focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and
increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that
focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes
their Circle of Influence to shrink.

8. Principle-Centered Living.
We can leverage principles to expand what were capable of and increase our
freedom.

Or, we can break ourselves against the principles.

The principles can work against us, especially when we are unaware of them.

By consciously embracing principles through principle-centered living, we can

act more wisely.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Principles are deep, fundamental truths, classic truths, generic common

denominators. They are tightly interwoven threads running with exactness,
consistency, beauty, and strength through the fabric of life.
Principles always have natural consequences attached to them. There are
positive consequences when we live in harmony with the
principles. There are negative consequences when we ignore them. But
because these principles apply to everyone, whether or not they are aware, this
limitation is universal. And the more we know of correct principles, the
greater is our personal freedom to act wisely.

By centering our lives on timeless, unchanging principles, we create a

fundamental paradigm of effective living. Is it he center that puts all other
centers in perspective.

9. Four Generations of Time Management.

Covey walks through the evolution of time management and how we can rise
above the never-ending To-Do lists.

If we mature to generation 4, then we focus more on relationships and results.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

Generation 1: Characterized by notes and checklists, an effort to give some

semblance of recognition and inclusiveness to the many demands place on our
time and energy.
Generation 2: Characterized by calendars and appointment books. This wave
reflects an attempt to look ahead, to schedule events and activities in the
future.
Generation 3: Adds to those preceding generations the important idea of
prioritization, of clarifying values, and of comparing the relative worth of
activities based on their relationships to those values. In addition, it focuses on
setting goalsspecific long-, intermediate-, and short-term targets toward which
time and energy would be directed in harmony with values. It also includes the
concept of daily planning, of making a specific plan to accomplish those goals
and activities determined to be of greatest worth.
Generation 4: Rather than focus on things and time, fourth generation
expectations focus on preserving and enhancing relationships and on
accomplishing resultsin short, on maintaining the P/PC Balance. It recognizes
that time management is really a misnomerthe challenge is not to manage
time, but to manage ourselves. Satisfaction is a function of expectation as well
as realization. And expectation (and satisfaction) lie in our Circle of Influence.

10. Make Meaningful Deposits in the Emotional

Bank Account.
The Emotional Bank Account is how we build trust with others by making better
deposits.

If we increase our Emotional Bank Account, communication becomes easy,

instant, and effective.

When the Emotional Bank Account is low, and, as a result, trust is low, we have
no room for error and communication is strained.

Via The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

An Emotional Bank Account is a metaphor that describes the amount of trust

thats been built up in a relationship. Its the feeling of safeness you have with
another human being.

If I make deposits into an Emotional Bank Account with you through courtesy,
kindness, honesty, and keeping my commitments to you, I build up a
reserve. Your trust toward me becomes higher, and I can call upon that trust
many times if I need to. I can even make mistakes and that trust level,
that emotional reserve, will compensate for it. My communication may
not be clear, but youll get my meaning anyway. You wont make me an
offender for a word. When the trust account is high, communication is easy,
instant, and effective.

But if I have a habit of showing discourtesy, disrespect, cutting you off,

overreacting, ignoring you, becoming arbitrary, betraying your trust,
threatening you, or playing little tin god in your life, eventually my Emotional
Bank Account is overdrawn. The trust level gets very low. Then what flexibility
do I have?

None. Im walking on mine fields. I have to be very careful of everything I

say. I measure every word. Its tension city, memo haven. Its protecting my
backside, politicking. And many organizations are filled with it. Many families
are filled with it. Many marriages are filled with it.

If you want the power to change, both yourself and any situation, then take
advantage of Stephen Coveys gift to the world.