People Management: 7 habits of effective leadership

How do you give direction to your life constructively and effectively?  

The Seven Habits of effective leadership is a book written by Stephen Covey that can benefit you as an individual but also as an organization. In fact, he defines effectiveness as the balance between achieving goals and caring about how those goals are achieved.  

Habit 1: Be proactive

First of all, being proactive is more than taking initiative. In fact, it means that you are responsible for your own life. Our behaviour depends on our decisions, not our circumstances.  

What is the difference between reactive language and proactive language?

Reactive comments are:

• I can not help it.
• That’s just the way I am. 

Proactive comments are:

• I can also approach it differently. 
• Let me see if there are alternatives. 

Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind

Live with a clear vision of your end goal. Know where you are going so you can better understand where you are now. After that, you can take steps in the right direction. 

One of the most effective ways to start with the end in mind is to write a personal mission statement. Important to realize is that you write about who you want to be and what you want to do. It is about the values and principles that go with it. 

Habit 3: Put first things first

This trait is about managing your time effectively. Specifically, you have to learn to prioritize and do what is urgent and what is important first.  

Habit 4: Think win-win

Important to keep in mind is that you must be willing to learn from each other in a team, influence each other and do something for each other.  

Habit 5: Seek first to understand then to be understood

Generally we always try to be understood first. Most people don’t listen to understand, but to answer. By empathic listening, Covey means listening with the intention of understanding the other.  

Habit 6: Synergy

To obtain synergy, your approach must be fundamentally based on respect, cooperation, and trust. For this, both openness and communication are necessary, as well as vulnerabilities. Synergy means that different types of differences (mental, emotional, psychological) need to be balanced. Especially then, creativity and performance are maximized.

Habit 7: Sharpen the saw

Sharpening the saw is about maintaining and improving the best tool you have: yourself. This involves maintenance on four dimensions: 

• Physical skills: exercise, nutrition, stress management 
• Spiritual skills: striving for clear values, dedication, study, meditation 
• Mental skills: reading, visualizing, planning, writing 
• Social-emotional skills: service, empathy, synergy, inner security 

The 7 habits of effective leadership inspire everyone. Not only is it important to know yourself and to keep improving yourself but also to inspire, influence and engage others.

Need help to improve your team?

Tiffany is a passionate marketing consultant with strong communication skills. She has her first experience at L’Oréal in Corporate Communication and Product Management. Followed by experience in the retail sector at ISFI spices and more recently at Colruyt Group working for Marketing Communication Services.

She is a real team player, with an open mindset, an emphatic approach, and an eye for detail. Tiffany loves to take on new challenges with a positive attitude, motivation, and dedication. 

Want to know more about Tiffany? Feel free to start a conversation with her on LinkedIn.