Important Business Lessons From The 8th Habit For Young Managers

Following up with his previous book, The Seven Habits of Hugely Successful People, Stephen Covey has written the 8th Habit. The book can be deemed as an upgrade to Covey’s idea of successful, better management. It underlines Covey’s emphasis on the idea of interdependence. According to him, interdependence matters more than independence. Business managers are likely to find the methods explained in the book particularly interesting. But, are these methods effective and worthwhile? You can decide for yourself below.

Employee Management

Employee management is key to effective business management. Any business is built upon the relationship that binds the entire business team. This relationship is crucial in maintaining an amiable business environment. A healthy business environment would greatly enhance employee productivity. Certainly, your staff would like to work in an environment where they are valued. This appreciation would ultimately result in more dedicated and inspired work, that would surely benefit your business. Covey’s idea of interdependence becomes pertinent in this regard and might just be the idea that would drive your workforce.

Finding Inner Value

The core theme of the book rests on the notion of finding inner value or motivation in order to achieve “greatness.” Based on this theme, the book traces the evolution in the phases of development, from the industrial age to the recent digital information age. Covey analyzes the consequent human evolutionary phase pertaining to each particular age. According to him, this development in the human evolution is key to greatness. He does not believe that participating in great community service ideas is enough to achieve greatness. Greatness can be achieved by discovering what lies inside the human intellect of each person. This human intellect relies on the three gifts that everyone is born with: freedom to choose, the natural laws that guide the consequences of behavior and the four intelligences – mental, physical, spiritual, emotional. It is by driving these gifts and utilizing them that inner voice can be sought. 8th Habit, certainly gives a very vivid, albeit abstract process in finding “greatness.”

Outcomes Of Greatness

Next, the book details the possible outcomes of greatness. Searching for and finding greatness would lead you to motivate others in searching their own individual voices. This would help in communicating better with others and developing great leadership skills. By motivating others to look into their own worth, any organization can drive a perfectly feel-good culture, which would lead to improved productivity. Covey’s book focuses on the basic point to develop a more organized and happy work culture.

Find Your Voice

According to the author himself, the entire point of the book is to find your voice in order to enable you to help others find theirs, as well. This is such a vital part of not only a satisfying career, but a satisfying personal life as well. When you are able to find your own voice, it gives you the tools to effectively manage and coach your employees to find theirs. And, if you don’t already know, when an employee feels that you are grooming them for bigger and better roles in the company, they are happier, more productive and better workers overall. There are many ways to make your employees engaged during office hours, but this is the quickest route. This may be a book you need to pick up, even if you have already found your voice.

Who Is Stephen Covey?

Stephen Covey is the author of the business book, The 8th Habit. However, there is more to the man than just this one book. Stephen Covey is also the cofounder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey.co. He has been cited as one of the most influential Americans by Time Magazine, a list that included just 25 people nationwide. Covey is also the founder of the Covey Leadership Centre and has authored seven books total, including First Things First and Principle-Centered Leadership. If you were worried about whether Stephen Covey’s lessons were effective strategies to use in the business world, clearly you should not be. Stephen Covey is a leader in the business leadership sphere.

Now, where does this book actually fit in? Certainly, going by the contents and the basic theme, the book is more than just an organizational self-help kit. Considering the spiritual and philosophical material, this book surely can be considered as a self-improvement guide as well. The book can be tedious at times, but the innovative ideals and concepts are quite relevant for any business owner or manager, regardless of whether you work in corporate event planning or some other area of business. Although you might not read the 8th Habit multiple times, it certainly demands a one time chance to make an impression.

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