This past weekend I moved my daughter into her new student apartment at the University of Missouri, where she will be living with two women that she met for the first time that day. She is a transfer student into Mizzou and knows no one. It was her decision to move into a 3-bedroom place so that it would force her to meet people and make some new relationships. Smart and brave idea. This is a busy and exciting time for students. As I was getting ready to leave, I quoted to her, "We first make our habits, then our habits make us." By John Dryden. Then I handed her the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, by Sean Covey.
I gave her the teen version instead of the original book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People because it is more "fun and playful" to read, and I know she will read it, plus the habits are the same. and the messages are timeless.
As I read this book as a refresher, I realized just how great this material is for individuals, teams, couples and kids. So it is my hope that you will also refresh this great Covey material with your team, as I am doing with mine.
- Habit 1: Be proactive. Take responsibility for your actions/life. We need to make things happen in our life/day/job, instead of waiting for them to happen. Act!
- Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind. Define your mission and goals for yourself and your team. Understanding how you want your team to preform each day with all customers/accounts, outlining a plan so that they understand, instead of hoping everyone is successful, is beginning with the end in mind.
- Habit 3: Put first things first. Prioritize and do the most important things first. It seems so simple, right? This one needs much more attention than it sometimes gets. Know yourself, what do you waste time on, do you procrastinate, and ask the question, what holds me back?
- Habit 4: Think win-win. Have an everyone-can-win attitude. Sales is competition and how many times are you in a sales situation where the sales person will badmouth their competitor? Sadly the opposite of what the sales person wants to have happen actually happens. This always puts a bad reflection on them, not the competition.
- Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listen to people sincerely. As the saying goes, "You have two ears and one mouth...." Good, effective communication, which includes listening, is the most important skill you can develop and continue to improve on all through your life.
- Habit 6: Synergize. Work together to achieve more. Synergy is open mindedness, teamwork, and trying to find new and better ways to accomplish something together.
- Habit 7: Sharpen the saw. Renew yourself regularly. How often do you make excuses for things that you know you need to do to make a better you? Time gets away from us, so sharpening your own personal saw needs to happen now. Don't say, I don't have time...make time for a better you!
Here is an additional and fun video to share with your team to support these seven habits, by FightMediocrity, click here. Good luck with refreshing these timeless habit helpers that everyone can enjoy and improve on.
Do you know someone or group that you feel could benefit from these blogs, here's how to sign them up:
All times are in EST:
· Wednesday 8/19 10AM
· Thursday 8/20 9AM
· Monday 8/24 9AM