The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Author Biography: Stephen R. Covey

From The Official Steven R. Covey Website: https://www.stephencovey.com/

Recognized as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans, Stephen R. Covey has dedicated his life to demonstrating how every person can truly control their destiny with profound, yet straightforward guidance. As an internationally respected leadership authority, family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and author, his advice has given insight to millions.

Some of Stephen R. Covey's milestones: Over 20 million books sold (in 38 languages) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was named the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century Authored four titles with sales exceeding one million copies each: First Things First , Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Latest book, The 8th Habit , has sold nearly 400,000 copies International Man of Peace Award National Fatherhood Award (father of 9, grandfather of 44) Author of the best-selling nonfiction audio in history (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) No. 1 best-selling hardcover book on family (The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families) MBA from Harvard, doctorate degree from Brigham Young University Board of directors for the Points of Light Foundations Co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey, the leading global professional services firm with offices in 123 countries International Entrepreneur of the Year Award Awarded eight honorary doctorate degrees

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

"The Pain"

-People are increasingly becoming more and more unhappy with their jobs and their positions in life. The reasons for this unhappiness are: -bosses that expect more production for less money and praise -lack of growth within self and company -Companies are not using their employees’ full potential when it comes to talents and intelligence.

-Employees are kept in the dark about where companies are headed.

"The Problem"

-Companies are still operating under The Industrial Age way of doing things: -employees are treated as objects that can be controlled -lower-level employees are not allowed to approach and attempt to solve problems -Companies are not evolving to the current “Knowledge Worker Age” way of doing business.

-This paradigm leads to workers “losing their voice.”

"The Solution"

-Find your voice !

-Recognize and develop your true nature -Express your voice through vision, discipline, passion, and conscience -Set an example and inspire others to find their own voices!

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Part One: Find Your Voice

Discover Your Voice - Every individual is born with the potential to be great. What you do with that potential is up to you.

Express Your Voice into: - All great achievers expand their innate human capacities Vision : Seeing with your mind what is possible in yourself, in other people, and in any endeavors you undertake.

Discipline : Commitment to bring your vision into reality.

Passion : Having the fire and drive to sustain your discipline and achieve your vision.

Conscience : Your moral compass of what is right and wrong.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Part Two: Inspire Others To Find Their Voices

The Leadership Challenge - Leadership is defined as communicating to people their worth andpotential so clearly that they begin to see it in themselves. Management and Leadership: Bothare important but very different. Managing deals with running organizations and staying organized while leading deals with empowering people.

The Voice of Influence - The center of the leadership method is modeling. Modeling shouldn't be the work of just one person, but of everyone in a group.

The Voice of Trustworthiness - A leader's characters can make or break an organization. A person with integrity and one who is trusted by his peers will be seen as a good leader.

The Voice of Speed and Trust - Inspiring others to find their voice means that you have to build strong relationships. The higher the trust one earns, the easier it is to communicate with people.

One Voice/Blending Voices - The 8th Habit is a combination of attitude, skill, and knowledge. To be a great leader, you need more than trustworthiness. You need to be able to guide people on how to become better individuals.

The Empowering Voice - Empowerment is the result of personal and organizational trustworhiness. It allows people to take control, manage, and organize their lives and careers.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Salient Point #1

"The fundamental reality is, human beings are not things needing to be motivated and controlled; they are four dimensional--body, mind, heart and spirit."(21) Consciously or subconsciously, people decide how much of themselves they will give to their work depending on how they are treated and on their opportunities to use all four parts of their nature."(22) "The point is, if you neglect any one of the four parts of human nature, you turn a person into a thing, and what do you do with things? You have to control, manage and carrot-and-stick them in order to motivate them."(23) "But in today's Information/Knowledge Worker Age, only one who is respected as a whole person in a whole job--one who is paid fairly, treated kindly, used creatively and given opportunities to serve human needs in principled ways--makes one of the...choices of cheerful cooperation, heartfelt commitment or creative excitement."(24) This is relevant on so many levels. As a professional, I have rarely had the needs of all four of my dimensions met and it is extremely demoralizing to be undervalued or condescended to. Then, I think of the way that students are treated and I feel a pang of guilt. As much as I try to build relationships with my students (mostly successfully and happily), when it comes down to it, the administration forces us to view these individual human beings as mere numbers on a statistical report of standardized test results. The students feel the push to perform for the tests and I think it not only dehumanizes them; it completely negates the real purpose of education: to nurture independent, creative and analytical problem-solvers who can succeed in whatever career they choose to pursue.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Salient Point #2

"Once you've found your own voice, the choice to expand your influence, to increase your contribution, is the choice to inspire others to find their voice. Inspire (from the Latin inspirare) means to breathe life into another. As we recognize, respect and create ways for others to give voice to all four parts of their nature- physically, mentally, emotionally/socially, spiritually--latent human genius, creativity, passion, talent and motivation are unleashed. It will be those organizations that reach a critical mass of people and teams expressing their full voice that will achieve next-level breakthrough in productivity, innovation and leadership in the market place and society." (31) As teacher-librarians, it is our job to help students and teachers alike find their voices and passion. We are not just keepers of the books and technology, we are there to help them learn how to inquire, explore, and learn in new ways. We need to be the agents of change to help the staff at our school see the potential of education when we all are 21st century learners.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Salient Point #3

"Modeling is the spirit and center of any leadership effort. It begins with Finding Your Voice - developing the four intellegences and expressing your voice in vision, discipline, passion and conscience," (126). "Modeling is also not the work of just an individual; it's the work of a team. When you have a team of people that builds on each individual's strengths and organizes to make indiviual weaknesses irrelevant, you have true power in an organization." (127). If you think of the organization as a school, and the team as the teachers and adminstrators in that school, you can see how this point would relate to being a librarian. In order to be a leader in a school, the librarian must understand that developing his/her own voice, and modeling his/her own voice is crucial to participating in an effective organization. Modeling how to develop your own voice to those around you that are struggling to do so is a great way to lead your school and make participating on a team more successful. Finally, working with every member of your team, or staff, to accentuate each person's strenghts makes collaborating and working together that much more effective.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Connection to Class #1

"There's a common misconception that a person's skill is their talent. Skills, however, are not talents. Talents, on the other hand, require skills. People can have skills and knowledge in areas where their talents do not lie. If they have a job that requires their skills but not their talents, organizations will never tap into their passion or voice. They'll go through the motions, but this will only make them appear to need external supervision and motivation.

If you can hire people whose passion intersects with the job, they won't require any supervision at all. They will manage themselves better than anyone could ever manage them. Their fire comes from within, not from without. Their motivation is internal, not external." I believe this goes along with chapter two of Morris' book. She states the importance of library media specialists be the agent of change within the school. They are instructional partners in the educational team. Because of their role, they are in a position to make changes happen in the school.(46) If a teacher-librarian is a true agent of change, they have talent and skill. Their passion shows and they are able to make things happen. If a teacher-librarian just has skill, things will remain the same and change will not take place.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Connection to Class #2

Week nine of Managing School Library Programs was all about being a leader, and at the same time working with other leaders in your building and community. Stephen Covey stresses the importance of first finding your individual voice, and then leading others in a search for their own voice. Your voice in a school could be your individual teaching, leadership, or management style. Finding your own voce in a school may take time, but once you find a voice that you're comfortable with, it's important that you encourage other teachers to find their voice as well. Working with leaders in the building and community to find a voice that aligns with your school and community's vision will only strengthen your ability to express your voice and use it to improve student success.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Connection to Class #3 -

Week 7: Budget and Facilities

Find your voice: "Ask questions and demand quality. It will pay off in the end. I have had to sit with Purchasing Directors and illustrate the heavy usage and needs of school libraries in order to sway them from buying from their favorite office suppliers. Years of use will make or break budgets!" Professor Su Eckhardt At my school this year, we discovered that we all have to use our voices to preserve the things that matter most to us and to make sure the focus remains on the greatest good for our students and our program. Sometimes that means disagreeing with those who are supposed to be the school leaders and placing yourself in a leadership role. Budgets, supplies, inventory, computers, and even the Media Specialist herself are at risk if we don't advocate for ourselves and build a strong support network upon which we can rely in times of need.

Covey, S. R. (2004).

The 8th habit: from effectiveness to greatness

. New York: Free Press.

Discussion Questions:

Stephen Covey states, "When you study the lives of all great achievers--those who have had the greatest influence on others, those who have made things happen--you will find a pattern. Through their persistent efforts and inner struggle, they have greatly expanded their four native human intelligences or capacities. The highest manifestations of these four intelligences are: for mental, vision; for the physical, discipline; for the emotional, passion; for the spiritual, conscience. These manifestations also represent our highest means of expressing our voice." (65) How do you feel this applies to being a teacher-librarian?

Stephen Covey states, "Whether you are dealing with old-timers, baby-boomers, Generation X or Generation Y - all of whom come from different value systems and see life through differnet lenses - there is one thing that unites them all: timeless, universal principles that can be the basis for developing a common vision and value system." (229) What are some timeless and universal principles that you see in your school and how do they make working in the library easier or more difficult?

Steven R. Covey proposes: "You can see no matter what issue, problem, or concern you have, you can empower yourself by taking initiative in some way. Be sensitive, be wise, be careful regarding timing, but do

something

about the situation. Avoid complaining, criticizing, or being negative; be especially wary of absolving yourself from responsibility and blaming 'them' for failures. We live in a culture of blame...[so] taking responsibility will mean swimming against the current."(140) What are some areas where you have felt frustrated or hobbled by red tape? How can you approach these situations in a positive, proactive way? What are some real initiatives you can take to change things for the better? Can you think of colleagues who would offer their support? How do you think your administration would respond?

Resources

Covey, S.

About Dr. Covey.

Retrieved September, 2009, from Stephen R. Covey's Official Website: https://www.stephencovey.com/about/about.php

Covey, S. (2004).

The 8th Habit: from effectiveness to greatness.

New York: Free Press.

Presented by: Lynn Jankura, Dede Pazour, and Stacey Sweet