Sample Book Review On Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People”

Even highly successful people struggle to solve problems, mainly concerning interpersonal relationships they face both at home and the workplace. Stephen R. Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” suggests developing 7 effective habits to combat daily life challenges. Covey insists on building character rather than personality on an inside out approach. Solutions to problems dramatically appear when an individual’s thought patterns change. Our character is the sum total of our habits, and developing habits involves huge determination and sacrifice, advises Covey.
The first habit Covey finds in leaders is proactive nature, inspired by self-awareness. Proactive people do not respond to stimulus like ordinary people. They have the freedom to choose their way of responding by applying their conscience and willpower. Covey quotes Victor Frankl’s determination to stay intact in spirit despite his Nazi captor’s inhuman treatment in a death camp during the Second World War. The second habit is about writing one’s own life script. People with the second habit always create things twice, the first time in their mind before its actual physical creation. It is the same with their life, and their actions are always guided by emotions. They have a mission in life, and apply principles of personal leadership to live a meaningful life and leave a legacy. The third effective habit Covey finds in effective leaders is the habit of managing themselves through managing their time. They always believe that 80 percent of outputs come from 20 percent of efforts, and never leave things that matter the most at the mercy of things that matter the least. Through mastering the first three habits, leaders achieve private victory or mastery over the self.
Having mastered the first three habits, leaders venture to achieve public victory by adopting three more habits, which are based on the cardinal rule, “Do to others what you would wish them do to you.” People, no matter how old they are, are much sensitive inside. Covey uses a metaphor called the Emotional Bank Account to describe the trust individuals build up in relationships. Politeness, kindness, honesty and keeping promises are some of the ways one makes deposits in another person’s Emotional Bank Account, whereas actions driven by mistrust, dishonesty and treachery deplete Emotional Bank reserves. The fourth habit of effective leaders, according to Covey, is building and maintaining win-win relationships. They believe that the universe is plentiful for everyone to enjoy, and one’s success does not make another one a failure. Interdependence at workplace and home motivates these leaders, and according to them anything other than win-win situation is something that severely affects long-term relationships. Listening with empathy is the fifth habit Covey finds in highly effective leaders. It involves a great deal of patience and courage to listen to someone with one’s ears, eyes and heart. The time one invests in listening to another one would bring back much more in returns, advises Covey. Synergy is the sixth habit of effective people; the real essence of creative cooperation is respecting others and capitalizing on their strength and complementing on each other’s weaknesses. The seventh habit is about continuous self renewal. The most worthy investment one ever can make in life is investing on his own self. One could sharpen his saw in four different dimensions, the physical, mental, spiritual and social dimensions on a continuous basis.
Having read Covey, I personally got so many inspirations to follow his teachings on a daily basis for my continuous self improvement. I will improve my knowledge and skills about my work so as to master it. Inculcating a positive mental attitude would be of great help to me to march forward toward my goals, unmindful of the situations and opinions of others. Similarly I am planning to take full control of my own life here after. I will visualize the things I am going to do as though I have achieved even before I start it, which in turn would inspire me to finish it successfully the second time. I would prioritize the important things in my life and do them with proper planning to avoid last minute hurry burry. I will step into the other person’s shoes to understand him better. As Covey advises, I would be a good listener to understand other people’s problems. I am also determined to follow Covey’s principle of synergizing; I will complement my colleagues with my skills and accept their guidance to improve my efficiency. Toward a complete self renewal, I will follow healthy eating habits, read good books to enrich my mental faculty, follow spiritual discourses and religious customs to enrich my spirit and have good relationship with friends and neighbors in the society. Last, but not the least, I will take a pledge never to hurt anyone by my words or deeds, and whenever possible I will appreciate and encourage others with good and motivating words. In other words, I always will deposit abundantly in other’s Emotional Bank Accounts.