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INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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Special points of interest:

"Find

your voice

and inspire others

to find theirs."
An Executive book
Summary by
Connie C. Topott
A Brief Summary:
In his book The 8th Habit:
From Effectiveness to
Greatness, Stephan R.

Covey builds upon the insights and lessons from

his previous book, The
Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, and lifts
you to the next dimension
with the 8th Habit, promising to help you find your
voice and inspire others to
do so as well. By voice
Covey means find what
you do well, what you enjoy doing and what your
should be doing to open
your four birth-gifts and to
use those talents to find
your calling. The book is
divided into three parts:
the first explores you personal passion, discipline,
and conscience and vision
and allows you to look at
your inner being. The second explains how to apply
these four gifts at work
and the third begins to
meld into a synergy of the
7 Habits and a consensual win-win attitude toward conflict. Perhaps the

the 7 Habits was time

management and the
creation of time for all that
matters, including our careers. In The 8th Habit,
Coveys greatest insight is
that by empowering others
through liberty and responsibility, we create our
own internal integrity and
peace of mind

Read and answer the following four questions to reveal your opportunity
to find you inner voice and inspire others.
1. What need do I sense
(in family, in my community, in the organization I
work for)?
2. Do I possess a true talent that, if disciplined and
applied, can meet the
need?

3. Does the opportunity to

meet the need tap into my
passion?
4. Does my conscience
inspire me to take action
and become involved?
If you answer all four ques-

tions with an affirmative

and make a habit of developing a plan of action and
following through on it, you
will find your true inner
voice in life-a life of deep
meaning, satisfaction and
greatness

Discover Your Voice -- Unopened Birth-gifts.

We are given three gifts at our birth: the freedom to chose, natural laws or principles, the four intelligences/
capacities of our nature.

The Voice of TrustworthinessModeling Character &

Competence.
The Modeling Tool-Personal
Planning System
Focus your life by answering the
following questions:
What are your highest values?
What can you contribute to your
family and your community?
How can you maintain and
enhance your health?
How will you continue to
develop your mind?
What are your true talents?
Where does your passion lie?
How can you make a difference
at work?
What will your legacy be?

All Children are

born geniuses;
9,999 out of every
10,000 are swiftly,
inadvertently
degeniusized by
grownups.
Buckminster Fuller

The freedom to choose: Humans

are free to choose their reactions
to lifes situations rather than
simply reacting as animals do.
We choose the direction of our
life. Between stimulus and response is a space. In that space
lie our freedom and power to
choose our response. In those
choices lie our growth and our
happiness. This revelation may
be equally frightening for those
who must stop blaming the environment and others and accept
personal responsibility for their
situation. Natural laws or principles: Natural Laws, such as gravity, are stamped by nature and
control the planet. Nature also
stamped people with the freedom
and power to choose. People
have the freedom and power to
choose and reinvent themselves.

This is natural authority.

Moral Authority: Moral authority is
the principled use of our freedom
to choose. Principles such as
respect, honesty, kindness, integrity, service and fairness, control
the consequences of our choices.
Values are social norms. All of us
have values-they are personal,
emotional, subjective and arguable. The important question to
ask ones self is, Are your values
based on principles? Principles
are natural laws; they are factual,
objective and self-evident. Consequences are governed by principles, and behaviour is governed
by values. One must deeply anchor their values in changeless
principles as vales control behaviour, principles control the consequences of behaviour. Moral
authority requires the sacrifice of

short term selfish interests and

the exercise of courage in subordinating social vales to principles.

The Four Intelligences/

Capacities of Our Nature.
Mental intelligence: Is our
ability to analyse, reason,
think abstractly, use language, visualize and comprehend. Physical Intelligence: Is our bodys ability
to maintain all involuntary
and voluntary functions.

Emotional Intelligence: Is
ones self-knowledge, selfawareness, social sensitivity, empathy and ability to
communicate successfully.
Spiritual Intelligence: It is
the source of guidance for
mental, physical and emotional intelligence. It represents our drive to connect

with the infinite. It allows

us to discern true principals held deep in our conscience and is a symbolic
compass. The key to high
moral authority is to follow
true north principles.

Developing the 4 intelligences/capacities

A quick check for
balancing ones
life:
1. For the body- assume you have had
a heart attack; now
live accordingly.
2. For the mind-

assume the halflife of your profession is two years;

now prepare accordingly.
3. For the heart;
assume everything
you say about another, they can

overhear; now
speak accordingly.
4. For the spiritassume you have a
one-on-one visit
with your Creator
every quarter; now
live accordingly

The freedom to choose: Humans are free to choose their

reactions to lifes situations
rather than simply reacting as
animals do. We can choose
the direction of our life. We
are not a product or victim of
our genes, our past, or the
way others treat us as we
have the power to choose our
reactions and determine our
own course. Between stimulus and response is a space.
In that space lie our freedom
and power to choose our response. In those choices lie
our growth and our happiness. This revelation may be
equally frightening for those
who must stop blaming the
environment and others and

accept personal responsibility for their situation.

Natural laws or principles:
Natural Laws, such as
gravity, are stamped by
nature and control the
planet. Nature also
stamped people with the
freedom and power to
choose. People have the
freedom and power to
choose and reinvent themselves. This is natural
authority.
Moral Authority: Moral authority is the principled use of our
freedom to choose. Principles
such as respect, honesty,
kindness, integrity, service
and fairness, control the con-

7 Habits of Highly effective

People, Refresher:

sequences of our choices.

Values are social norms. All
of us have values-they are
personal, emotional, subjective and arguable. The important question to ask ones self

Habit 1-Be Proactive

Freedom to choose between stimulus
and response
Act vs. to be acted upon
Take initiative
Habit 2- Begin with the End in Mind.
Is the ladder leaning against the right
wall?
Everything is created twice
Identifying goals and roles
Habit 3-Put First Things First
Time management matrix

The Pain. I have no life.

Im burned out -- exhausted. Im frustrated
and discouraged. Im
sick of the backstabbing
politics and kissing up. I
cant change things. This
is the voice of the pain of
managers, laborers, parents, professionals and

executives throughout the

world. The 7 habits are
about becoming highly
effective using timeless
principals but todays
world demands not just
effectiveness, but greatness in the form of fulfillment, passionate execution, and significant contri-

bution. To tap into the

genius and motivation
requires a new mind-set, a
new skill-set a new
habit. The 8th Habit will
lead from pain and frustration to fulfillment, relevance, significance and
contribution both professionally and personally.

Habit 4- Think Win-Win

Think in terms of we not me
Habit 5-Seek First to Understand, Then
to be Understood
Faithfully reflect your understanding
of the other person before seeking to
be understood
Habit 6-Synergize
Value the different opinion, viewpoints,
and perspectives of others when seeking a solution

The Problem. The core

of the problem is societys deeply imbedded
paradigm from the industrial age that people
are things that must
be controlled and motivated and a set of traditions in the workplace
that fails to recognize
the four interdependent

dimensions: Mind,
heart, body and spirit.
The Solution. One must
be open to changing
oneself from the inside
out to find their true
character and moral authority in order to find
their own voice and inspire others to find
theirs.

All

that is
necessary for
the triumph of
evil is that
good men do
nothing.
Edmund Burke

Habit 7-Sharpen the Saw

Engage in continuous physical, spiritual,

Express Your Voice-Vision, Discipline, Passion and Conscience.

The four intelligences manifest themselves as: mental or vision,
physical or discipline, emotional or passion, and spiritual or conscience.
Vision: vision results when
your mind joins with possibility. It is the ability to see
beyond the present and
recognise the possibility in
people, projects, in causes
and enterprises. Without
vision, people tend to fall
toward victimization.
Discipline: arises when
vision joins with commitment. It is paying the price
to bring vision into reality
by dealing with the hard,
brutal facts of reality and
doing what is necessary to
make things happen. The
opposite of discipline and

The fruit of silence

is PRAYER. The
fruit of prayer is
FAITH. The fruit of
faith is LOVE. The
fruit of love is
SERVICE. The fruit
of service is
PEACE. Mother
Teresa.

the commitment that inspires sacrifice is indulgence-sacrificing what

matters most in life for the
pleasure and thrill of the
moment.
Passion: arises when human need overlaps unique
human talent. It is the fire,
desire and strength of conviction that drives and sustains the discipline to
achieve the Vision. Without passion one, the void
is filled with insecurity and
empty chatter. In relationships and organisations,
settings, passion includes

compassion.
Conscience is the guiding
force to vision, discipline
and passion and is the
opposite of a life lead by
ego. It is the inward moral
sense of right and wrong
that drives toward meaning and contribution.

Ghandi: if you reach an admirable end through unethical means it would

ultimately turn to dust in your hands. His teachings list the seven
Immanuel Kant taught that
the means used to accomplish the ends are as important as those ends. Machiavelli taught the opposite, that
the ends justify the means.
Ghandi taught that if you
reach an admirable end
through unethical means it
would ultimately turn to dust
in your hands. His teachings

list the seven unprincipled

and unworthy means to an
end that will destroy us:

Ego: Conscience is the

still, small, quiet, peaceful, voice within. Ego is
tyrannical, despotic and
doctorial. Ego focuses
on survival, pleasure,
and is selfishly ambitious. Ego micromanages controls and disempowers. Conscience
allows people to man-

age themselves. Conscience empowers.

Ego is threatened by
negative feedback and
punishes the messenger. It censors information and denies reality.
Conscience values feedback values the truths it
contains. It is aware of
reality from every direc-

*Wealth without work

*Pleasure without conscience *Knowledge without character *Commerce
without morality *Science
without humanity *Religion
without sacrifice

*Politics without Principles

It is conscience that reveals
the value of both the ends
and the means and how they
are inseparable. Ego states
that the end justifies the
means, unaware that a worthy end can never be accomplished by unworthy means.

tion. Ego is myopic and

interprets all of life
through its own agenda.
Conscience is a social
ecologist listening to and
sensing the entire system
and environment.
Conscience is sacrificesubordinating ones ego
to a higher purpose principle or cause.

Childhood is the best time

to discover your voice and
develop you four intelligences. But what if you have
had a difficult childhood
that filled with victimization, competition, complaining, contending, comparing and criticising?
Perhaps a school can become a surrogate parent
and compensate for the
dysfunctionality of home
and encourage children to
find their own voice, make
their own choice, and determine their own course.
In Raleigh, North Carolina,
Principal Muriel Thomas

Summers, with the partnership between school

and student homes,
introduced principle
based character education using The 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People as their curriculum
to develop the four intelligences of the kindergarten to grade 5 students. The principles of
responsibility, purpose,
integrity, win-win, seek first
to understand, synergy and
sharpen the saw were integrated into the total curriculum. The result was an
increase in student per-

People who find their voice

require no management
S. Covey

formance from 67% performing at or above national standards to 94%

performing at or above
grade level in 18 months.

The difference between leadership and management:

Both leadership and management are vital-either one without the other is insufficient.
Leadership vs Management
Leaders are people who do
the right thing; Managers are
people who do things right.
Leadership is about coping
with change. Management is
about coping with complexity. J Kotter
Leadership has about it a
kinesthetic feel, a sense of

movementManaging is
about handling things, about
maintaining order, about organization and control.
Kouzes and Posner
Leaders are concerned
with what things mean to
people. Managers are concerned about how things get
done. A Zaleznik
Leaders are the architects

Managers are the builders

Matiotti
Leadership focuses on the
creation of a common visionManagement is the
design of work...its about
controlling G Weathersby
To lead is to empower people.
To manage is to control
things. You cannot lead
things as they cannot choose.

The Four Roles of Leadership

The Sweet Spot
difference between what we are
doing and what we
are capable of doing
would solve most of
the worlds problems.
The

M Ghandi

Modeling-Inspires trust
without expecting it
(Personal Moral Authority)
Pathfinding-Create order
without demanding it
(Personal Moral Authority)
Aligning-Nourishes both
vision and empowerment
without proclaiming them
(Personal Moral Authority)
Empowering-Unleashes
human potential without

externally motivating it
(Personal Moral Authority)
Execution: Making it happen requires the creation of
structures, systems and
processes (aligning) that
intentionally enable workers to translate the larger
vision (pathfinding) into day
-to-day goals. Thus, people
are empowered to get the
work done!

Things without freedom to

choose:
Money Structures
Physical resources
Costs Systems Facilities
Information Processes
Tools
Time
Inventory
Sometimes
People choose to be managed
under their own leadership
(many professionals and other
producers)

ISSUE

OLD INDUSTIAL AGE

NEW KNOWLEDGE WORKER AGE

CONTROL MODEL

RELEASE/EMPLOYMENT MODEL

Leadership

A Position (formal authority)

A choice (moral authority)

Management

Control things and people

Control things, release (empower) people

Structure

Hierarchical, bureaucratic

Flatter, boundary-less, flexible

Motivation

External, carrot-and-sticking

Internal whole person

Performance Appraisal

External, sandwich technique

Self-evaluation using 360 feedback

Information

Primarily short-term financial reports

Balanced scoreboard (long-and-short-term)

Communication

Primarily top-down

Open: Up / Down / Sideways

Culture

Social rules / mores of the workplace

Principle-centered values and economic rules of

Budgeting

Primarily top-down

Open, flexible, synergistic

Training & Development

Sideshow, skill oriented, expendable

Maintenance, strategic, whole person, values

The 8th Habit in our Schools?

Coveys faith shines through in the 8th Habit as he uses a holistic approach to
first understanding our own internal conscience and voice. A reflective process
allows us to balance body, mind, spirit, and heart. He encourages us to find our
moral compass and conduct all of or personal and professional activities and
decisions through this lens.
Covey notes that true change is not initiated externally, but internally. We
need to be the change we wish to see in others. (Gandhi). Covey is concerned
that the external locus of control has created a society of blaming and victimization. It is only through deep personal reflection and responsibility for choosing
our own reactions and attitudes that we can come to our birth gifts and share
them with others.
We must first change ourselves and then others. Just as responsibility
for our own decisions empowers us, delegating responsibilities to others empowers them. Empowered workers are the knowledge workers and this will allow us
to reach our potential as an organization and as individuals.
Can Coveys 8th Habit work in education? The education system is by
nature hierarchical and bureaucratic. However, as A.B. Combs Elementary
School proved the 7 Habits were successful for students, teacher and parents.
Perhaps the 8th Habit would work best if it was embraced at all levels in the
educational system. But will teachers be willing to accept the added responsibility and will Directors and Administrators be willing to give up the reins of control.? According to Covey it is only way to achieve more than personal and organizational effectiveness, but personal and organizational greatness.

Complement, dont
criticize,
your boss.

Organization Defined.
Organization is made up
of individuals who have a
relationship and shared
purpose. Almost everyone
belongs to some type of
organization. An organization can be as simple as a
partnership or a marriage.
Most of the worlds work is
done by organizations.
The Leadership challenge
is to set up and run organizations in a way that enables all to inwardly sense
their own innate worth and
potential, unique talents
and passion, or voice. To

reach the organizations

principal-centered goals.
Reality of New Paradigms
Carrot & Stick motivation
is animal psychology.
People have the power to
choose. You can buy
someones back, but not
their heart and mind. You
can by their hands, but
not their spirits.

your goals? How can I

help you? How am I doing
as a helper?

The Servant Leader empowers other with the following questions:

How is it going? What are
you learning? What are

Trim Tab: is a small rudder

that turns the big rudder
that turns the ship. Gandhi was a trim-tab. The
trim-tab leader exercises
initiative within his or her
own Circle of Influence.

1. Wait until told. Lies outside of

your Circle of Influences and your
job. Rather than obsessing over
things that you can do nothing
about, and falling into the trap of
co-dependency that breeds emotional cancers, try finding issues
or concerns you can do something about and accept that there
are some things beyond your
control. 2. Ask. Falls within your
job description but outside of your
Circle of Influence. An intelligent
question that is the result of
careful analyses may increase
your Circle of Influence.

3. Make a Recommendation.
Making a recommendation falls
on the edge of your Circle of Influence. As it saves your leader time
and energy and require much
more initiative from you it can
enlarge your Circle of Influence
considerably.
4. I intend to. Is on notch higher
on the initiative ladder and is on
the outside edge of ones Circle of
Influence. In I intend to the
person has done more analytical
work and is prepared to take
action once it is approved.

5. Do it and report immediately.

Falls on the outside edge of ones
Circle of Influence but within ones
job. You report immediately because other people need to know.
6. Do it and report periodically.
Falls within your job description and
within your Circle of Influence. This
may be self-evaluation or a formal
report allowing information to reported to others.
7. Do it. When something is at the
centre of your Circle of Influence
and your job description, you just
do it.

1. Wait until told. Lies out-

side your Circle of Influences and your job. Rather

than obsessing over things
that you can do nothing
about, and falling into the
trap of codependency that
breeds emotional cancers,
try finding issues you can
do something about and
accept that there are some
things beyond your control.
2. Ask. Falls within your job
description but outside of
your Circle of Influence. An
intelligent question that is
the result of careful analyses may increase your Circle of Influence.

3. Make a Recommendation. Making a recommendation falls on the edge of

your Circle of Influence. As
it saves your leader time
and energy and require
much more initiative from
you it can enlarge your
Circle of Influence considerably.4. I intend to. Is
on notch higher on the
initiative ladder and is on
the outside edge of ones
Circle of Influence. In I
intend to the person has
done more analytical work
and is prepared to take
action once it is approved.
5. Do it and report immedi-

ately. Falls on the outside

edge of ones Circle of Influence but within ones
job. You report immediately because other people
need to know. 6. Do it and
report periodically. Falls
within your job description
and within your Circle of
Influence. This may be
self-evaluation or a formal
report allowing information
to reported to others. 7.
Do it. When something is
at the centre of your Circle
of Influence and your job
description, you just do it.

Modeling
(conscience): Set a
good example
Pathfinding
(vision): Jointly determine the
course.

Aligning
(discipline):
Set up and manage systems to
stay on course.
Empowering
(passion) Focus tal-

ent on results, not

methods, then get
out of
peoples way and
give help when requested.

Chronic and Acute Problems: Chronic means underlying, causal, continuing. Acute means painful,
symptomatic, debilitating.
Not all chronic problems
have acute symptoms.
Low trust: Trust is the
spirit of the company. The
acute symptoms are: backbiting, in-fighting, victimization, defensiveness, infor-

mation hoarding, defensive, protective communication.

No shared vision or common value system: Vision
is the mind of the company. The acute symptoms are hidden agendas,
playing political games,
inconsistent criteria for
decision making, resulting
in a ambiguous chaotic

culture.
Lack of system alignment:
is the body of the company
The acute symptoms are:
Bureaucracy, hierarchies,
rules and regulations. People become an expense, not
an investment. People become co-dependant, needing external motivation and
wait until told.

Five Cancerous
Behaviours
Criticizing
Complaining
Comparing
Competing
Contending

The Emotional Bank Account is like a

financial bank account into which you make
emotional deposits and withdrawals, in your
relationships that can either build or destroy
them.

Deposits

Withdrawals

Sacrifice Required

Internalized Principles

Seek first to understand

Seek first to be understood

Impatience, ego, Your agenda

Mental Understanding

Keeping promises

Breaking promises

Moods, Feelings, emotions,

time

Integrity/Execution

Honest, openness

Smooth manipulation

Ego, Arrogance, Control

Kindness, courtesies

Unkindness, discourtesies

Self, Time, Perceptions, stereotypes, Prejudices

Vision/Values, Integrity/Execution, Mutual understanding

Vision/Values, Integrity/Execution,

Win-win or no deal

Win-lose or lose-win
thinking

Winning means to beat,

competitiveness

Mutual Respect/Benefit

Clarifying expectations

Violating expectations

Kiss-up style communication

Loyalty to the absent

Disloyalty, duplicity

Some social acceptance, heart

massage

Mutual Respect/Benefit
Mutual understanding
Creative Cooperation, Renewal
Vision/Values, Integrity/Execution

Apologies

Pride, conceit, arrogance

Ego, Arrogance, Pride, Time

Vision/Values, Integrity/Execution

Receiving feedback
from and giving I
messages

Not receiving feedback

and
giving you messages
Holding grudges

Ego, Arrogance, Pride, Reactive

Communication

Mutual Understanding

Pride, Self-Centeredness

Vision/Values, Integrity/Execution,

or destroy them.

Organization

Forgiveness

The book contains 8

appendixes
that answer many
questions and
function as a personal
workbook
to the 8 Habit. Appendix
2 includes
a review of 26 books on
Leadership
Theory.

In 1996, Stephen R. Covey was

Times, Wall Street Journal,

Covey. Dr. Covey's vision of

recognized as one of Time

USA Today Money, Business

empowering organizations to

magazine's 25 most influential

Week, and Amazon.com and

implement "principle-centered"

Americans and one of Sales

Barnes & Noble. The 8th Habit

leadership in their cultures

and Marketing Management's

has sold more than 360,000

continues to be an important

top 25 power brokers. Dr.

copies. Dr. Covey is cofounder

focus of FranklinCovey.

Covey is the author of several

and vice chairman of Franklin-

acclaimed books, including the

Covey, the leading global pro-

international bestseller, The 7

fessional services firm with

Habits of Highly Effective Peo-

offices in 123 countries. Frank-

ple. It has sold more than 15

linCovey shares Dr. Coveys

million copies in 38 languages

vision, discipline and passion

throughout the world. Dr.

to inspire, lift and provide tools

Coveys newest book, The 8th

for change and growth of indi-

Habit: From Effectiveness to

viduals and organizations

Greatness, which was released

throughout the world. On May

in November 2004, has risen to

30, 1997, a merger of Covey

the top of several bestseller

Leadership Center with Frank-

lists, including New York

lin Quest created Franklin-

Internal integrity and peace

of mind