I did not finish this entire book. But I do really like his emphasis on compassion, empathy, and win win. In particular he makes coins from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which where were you earlier, and also lots of quotes from other writers and figures. I will admit that when he reminds us again and again to avoid to lose- win as a martyrizing proposition that I feel a twinge of guilt.

I did not finish this entire book. But I do really like his emphasis on compassion, empathy, and win win. In particular he makes coins from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which where were you earlier, and also lots of quotes from other writers and figures. I will admit that when he reminds us again and again to avoid to lose- win as a martyrizing proposition that I feel a twinge of guilt.

Stephen had a tremendous impact not only on my life, but through me, on the lives of those I had the privilege to lead. It started indirectly, when, after a period of reflection and tough going I discovered the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The overall approach of private victory then public victory, describing our growth as proceeding from dependence through independence to interdependence struck me as incredibly simple yet powerful. I applied what I learned to my life immediately.

Later, when assigned to command the USS Santa Fe, I applied his 7 Habits approach at the organizational level. I gave every officer and chief who reported a copy of his book. We would have seminars discussing the various habits and the application of those habits made Santa Fe a more effective submarine.

It turned out that Stephen was doing some work for the navy and learned about what we were doing on Santa Fe. He expressed an interest in riding the ship and the navy set it up. We were scheduled to conduct a one-day transit from the port of Lahaina on the neighboring island of Maui back to Pearl Harbor. This would be a perfect time for him to ride. It was also when we had set up a family member cruise and were expecting about 80 family members to ride as well.

I was apprehensive about having both events at the same time. I thought the presence of the family members would present a distorted picture of how Santa Fe operated. Further, I wasn’t sure how I’d appropriately apportion my time between running Santa Fe, Stephen, and the family members.

It worked out perfectly! Stephen was working on a book for families and held a special talk just for the family members. His message was that they played a critically important role in the success of the ship and placed high value on family. It was a win-win.

Stephen spent the entire day onboard, talking with crew members, looking through the periscope and driving the ship. He was tremendously interested in the people, and how they worked together. Everyone he talked to felt better about themselves afterward, especially me.

He remained interested in how Santa Fe did and was happy to hear of the subsequent successes the ship had, including the selection of 9 of the officers for submarine command. I was honored that he included USS Santa Fe in his book, The Eight Habit, and agreed to write the foreword to Turn the Ship Around! ( )

In this book Covey explains that each human has the choice to walk down either the road to Greatness or to Mediocrity. Born with the three birth-gifts: Freedom of Choice, Principles, and the Four Intelligences a man can take the way to Greatness using his Whole Person paradigm (integrating body, mind, heart, and spirit), or he can take the way to mediocrity through his fragmented, victimized person paradigm.

Unleashing human potential (reaching Greatness) is a two-step journey which Covey represents it as the 8th Habit: finding one's voice, and inspiring others to find theirs. Finding one's voice is accomplished by developing the four human intelligences (physical (PQ), mental (IQ), emotional (EQ), and spiritual (SQ)) that are manifested by discipline, vision, passion, and conscious. Once a person finds his own voice s/he inspires others to find theirs by developing the four roles of leadership; Modeling, Pathfinding, Aligning, and Empowering.

The theme of the book is about utilizing the power of individuals to unleash people's potential. It stresses the need to inspire people and move from the Industrial Age era to the Knowledge Worker Age era that respects people and leads them as humans rather than managing them as 'things'. At the end, it provides a roadmap towards community greatness starting with the individual greatness, then moving to team and organizational greatness.

Although expressed in abstract wording and thoughts in most parts of it, the book is full of inspiring and motivating experiences and examples. To make the author's point clearer, a set of good films are placed on www.the8thHabit.com/offers

I recommend reading Covey's best seller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ahead of reading this book as it is the foundation on which the 8th Habit is built. The book is not easy to read or to digest, yet it is worth going the extra mile and re-reading when necessary to get the fully integrated picture that Covey tries to project in our minds. ( )

Daug žmonių jaučiasi nusivylę, sužlugdyti ir neįvertinti, mažai arba visai nesupranta savo pašaukimo ar išskirtinio naudingumo. 8-asis įprotis yra atsakymas į žmonijos pašaukimo paieškas, į sielos troškimą būti didinga, organizacijos imperatyvui būti prasminga ir siekti geresnių rezultatų. Gili, dėmesį prikaustanti ir stulbinančiai laiku parašyta knyga apie naująjį mąstymo lygį praskina kelią ir leidžia prisibelsti iki neriboto Žinių amžiaus vertės kūrimo pažado.