It is the ability to act, rather than be acted upon" (148). This goes back to Covey's original principle regarding being proactive.
While the ideas of being proactive and prioritizing are widely accepted as essential parts of effective management, where Covey seems to go off track a bit in this chapter is his downgrading of the importance of efficiency. Covey believes that there is too much focus on efficiency and not enough focus on developing rich relationships. This may very well be the case, but in today's technology-driven environment, efficiency is king, and it is highly unlikely that it will be dethroned anytime soon.
Where Covey's model does make sufficient sense for the working world of the 21st century is in regard to prioritizing. Certainly not a new or groundbreaking idea, putting items and tasks in the order of importance has almost invariably been shown to be a wise decision. Prioritizing is a particularly essential part of time management, as often times everything that needs to get done simply doesn't, so it is critical that the most important things get done first. Again, there is nothing really new or groundbreaking here, but Covey does manage to provide enough interesting and applicable scenarios, charts and diagrams to keep the chapter relatively fresh.
Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Interpersonal Leadership
With chapter 4, we enter the "public victory" section of the book. This is where the book transitions from a focus on independence to interdependence. The bulk of this chapter is devoted to a metaphor devised by Covey that he calls the "Emotional Bank Account." According to the author, the bank represents the amount of trust and ease you feel with other people. You can either make deposits or withdrawals from this bank account based on how your relationships develop. You can also build up a reserve, by depositing positive emotions such as courtesy, kindness and honesty. However the bank can just as easily be overdrawn, when more is taken out than is put in. Covey tops the metaphor off by stating "Building and repairing relationships are long-term investments."
Covey then proceeds to outline six major deposits that will build the bank account into a healthy reserve of trust and respect. The first of these is "understanding the individual" which essentially entails a combination of good communication and the Golden Rule. The second thing of which you want to make plenty of deposits into your emotional bank account is "attending to the little things." Taking the time to do a kindness for a stranger or stop and smell the proverbial roses makes for a high value deposit, according to Covey. "Keeping commitments" is the third type of deposit Covey discusses, emphasizing that breaking your promise to someone is one of the most damaging thing you can do to a relationship. The fourth deposit 'material' is "clarifying expectations" which is supposed to prevent miscommunication, and the fifth is "showing personal integrity" which essentially equates to being a good and honest person. The sixth and final deposit Covey inserts into his metaphor is "apologizing sincerely when you make a withdrawal" (190-198). In other words, when you do something wrong, own up to it, and make sure whoever you betrayed knows that you are sincerely sorry for it, and that it will not happen again. It is not enough to merely speak the words, but you must follow through with your actions as well.
If you make more deposits than you make withdrawals, you should ideally, according to Covey, end up in a win-win situation. Of the six different paradigms of human interaction, which run the gamut from win/win to lose/lose, clearly win/win is the one for which we all should strive to achieve. However Covey makes this goal seem much easier than it tends to be in real life. Win/Win is extremely difficult to attain because it usually means that one or both parties have to give up something. Compromise cannot be achieved without sacrifice. While Covey makes effective arguments for why a situation might be considered lose/lose despite the perceptions of the parties involved seeing it as the opposite, he never makes it entirely clear how to achieve win/win. This is most likely due to the fact that win/win situations generally only occur when there is no conflict between what the negotiating parties are seeking.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood:
Principles of Empathic Communication
Empathetic communication begins with empathetic listening. According to...
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