Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Summary

Habit 1:  
Be Proactive -  Change starts from within.  Highly effective people make the decision to improve their lives through things they can influence rather than by simply reacting to external forces.

Habit 2:  
Begin with the End in Mind -  Develop a principle-centered personal mission statement.  Extend your mission statements into long-term goals based on personal principles.

Habit 3:  
Put First Things First -  Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission, observing the proper balance between production and building production capacity.  Identify the key roles that you take on in life, and make time for each of them.

Habit 4:  
Think Win/Win -  Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial.  In cases where a "win/win" deal cannot be achieved, accept the fact that agreeing to make "no deal" may be the best alternative.  In developing an organizational culture, be sure to reward win/win behavior among employees and avoid inadvertantly rewarding win/lose behavior.

Habit 5:  
Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood -  First seek to understand the other person, and only then try to be understood.  The most important principle of interpersonal relations, effective listening is not simply echoing what the other person has said through the lens of one's own experience.  Effective listening is putting oneself in the perspective of the other person and listening empathically for both meaning and feeling.

Habit 6:  
Synergize -  Through trustful communication, find ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.  Through mutual trust and understanding, one often can solve conflicts and find a better solution than would have been obtained through either person's own solution.

Habit 7:  
Sharpen the Saw -  Take time out from production to build production capacity through personal renewal of the physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual dimensions.  Maintain a balance among these dimensions.

 
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