8th Habit - A Must Habit
I am serious fan of Dr.Stephen Covey and was totally impressed by his first book "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". If there is one book that changed my perspective and made me more effective, its definitely this one - no exaggerations. Some of his other works like "First Things First" were good but none matching the first. "The 8th Habit" follows the path too.
The concept is very good - listening to inner voices - and very true. And the way to go about also is excellent - Vision, Discipline, Passion and Conscience. While listening to our voices seem very true, listening to others' voices feels more appropriate for organizations than individuals. After the first few chapters, I could feel that the focus is for enterprises. I was wondering if it would be useful to me in my real life to apply today if I read and practice.
But few of the other things made the book very attractive and readable: Several Quotes liberally used (and a collection of Manager vs. Leader in the Appendix), Question and Answers at the end of each chapter (though it looked like a textbook, was very useful as the questions that typically arise and imagined and answered) and the candid answers (yes, this is not research or empirical). The DVD must be good too but since I read from a library could not get the DVD.
The real-life example about the Professor from Bangladesh is awe inspiring. Also on the age where we are and how knowledge is important - Excellent.
Very good attempt as the concept is very true - one should believe in the inner voice, listen to it and go with it. However could have been dealt two fold - personal and business like.
A must read, though not 100%
2 Comments:
I am not surprised at your label "a fan of Stephen Covey" who laboured a lot in the earlier years of this decade to transform the leaders of world from being effective to being truly great. And greatness is what not one perceives about himself but perceived by others about him. We usually say that someone is Great, but when questioned,"great in what?" we pause to ponder over. Greatness lies in, NOT WHAT YOU MAY HAVE BUT HOW YOU MAKE IT EQUALLY AVAILABLE TO OTHERS" . In one of my classes, I recollected the names of two scores of men and women (of the 19th and 20th centuries) whom the contemporary world perceived as effective men. But how many among them have been able to enter the world of Greatness? My audience would not get past a single digit. Through systematic training under a trained Guru,one becomes effective - which is but a product of KSA - Knowledge, skills and attitude. But to be come great requires a lot of inner motivation. How I could be and should be useful to society and posterity?
Stephen Covey's book is immortal in this respect.
" In youth, we learn. In age, we understand" Ebner Eachenbach
NO MAN EVER STEPS IN THE SAME RIVER TWICE, FOR IT IS NOT SAME RIVER AND HE IS NOT THE SAME MAN.
HERACLITUS
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