A brief intro to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Created by Ruth Murphy for a staff meeting.

The First Three Habits surround moving from dependence to independence


The next three habits talk about Interdependence (e.g. working with others):

The final habit is that of continuous improvement and renewal in both the personal and interpersonal spheres

We can choose how we respond to and act in given situations.

Act not be acted upon.

Move from the culture of victim-hood. Other people are in control therefore I can blame other people.

Awareness of our own degree of pro activity comes from awareness of our circle of influence and our circle of concern

Be Proactive:

Goal focused Know where you want to go, so you can take the right steps to get there.
Begin with a personal mission statement or creed which becomes your own standard.

building on habit 1 &2.
Understand that not doing everything is okay - understand that you can say no when necessary and then focus on your highest priorities - based on your personal standard

Win-win = cooperation not competition. Win-win is a frame of mind which seeks solutions that are mutually beneficial and satisfying.

"You listen to yourself as you prepare in your mind what you are going to say, the questions you are going to ask, etc. You filter everything you hear through your life experiences, your frame of reference. You check what you hear against your autobiography and see how it measures up. And consequently, you decide prematurely what the other person means before he/she finishes communicating. "

"Synergize is the habit of creative cooperation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness, and the adventure of finding new solutions to old problems. But it doesn't just happen on its own. It's a process, and through that process, people bring all their personal experience and expertise to the table. Together, they can produce far better results that they could individually. Synergy lets us discover jointly things we are much less likely to discover by ourselves. It is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. "