Book_Review

NAME: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People. AUTHOR: Stephen R Covey PUBLISHING HOUSE: Simon & Schuster FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1989 AWARDS: In August 2011, Time listed Seven Habits as one of " The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books. NO OF COPIES SOLD: it has sold more than 15 million copies in 38 languages since first publication. OTHER BOOKS: Covey has written a number of follow-up books: * First Things First * Principle Centered Leadership * The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, a sequel to The Seven Habits published in 2004 * The Leader in Me, a book on using the seven habits for young children, especially in schools, published in 2008. TYPE OF BOOK: self help book PURPOSE OF THE BOOK: In many ways it's a general purpose psychology book, dealing with such things as motivation, organizational skills, and how to deal with stress. THEME: The 7 Habits provide an incremental, sequential, integrated approach to the development of personal effectiveness moving us progressively from dependence (on others) to independence (taking care of ourselves) to interdependence (looking after others and combining strengths to multiply our individual effectiveness). This book's focal point is on an approach to obtain personal and interpersonal effectiveness. Covey emphasizes that if we want to make a change in our lives, we should probably first focus on our personal attitudes and behaviors THE STORY: Be Proactive: Covey states that we are responsible for our own lives; therefore, we possess the initiative to make things happen. He also points out that proactive people so not blame various circumstances for their behaviors but they realize behavior comes from one's conscious. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND: To begin with the end simply means to start with your destination in mind. That gives an individual a sense of where he/she presently is in their life. One has to know where they are going to make sure that they are headed in the right direction. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST: Covey calls this the habit of personal management. This is about organising and implementing activities in line with the aims established in habit 2. Plan, prioritize and execute your week’s task based on importance rather than urgency. THINK WIN-WIN: achievements are largely dependent on co-operative efforts with others. Win/win is a situation in which everyone benefits something. Value and respect people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way. SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD 'diagnose before you prescribe'. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They're either speaking or preparing to speak. Use empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving. SYNERGISE Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership. SHARPEN THE SAW: Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. LEARNINGS: It is not easy to learn from d book. But I realized that by adopting small things from it I could actually utilize time in a better manner. I think if you learn to use these 7 habits, it will change your life. The book isn't boring or repetitive coz it gives real life examples and so it is easy to relate and apply those principles in your own life.