The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a personal change book written by Stephen R. Covey. The 7 habits Stephen R. Covey list in his book are: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win/Win, Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood, Synergize, and Sharpen the Saw.

The 3 habits that I feel are in alignment with my personality the most are:

Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind: Keeping the goal in mind will keep you on task. For example, Stephen R. Covey describes a scenario where the reader is sitting in on their own funeral and there are four speakers, your immediate family, your friends, co-workers and members of your community. Covey continues to ask the reader, “what would you want them to say about you?” Keeping the end in mind allows you to keep your goals on path. I feel that this is habit aligns with my personality because when I plan for something, I am always thinking about the big picture. For example, Currently I am in the Business Administration program at Centennial College. My goal is to obtain a degree in law after completing a bachelors degree. As I am completing this program I am also taking law courses to help me in the future towards my long term goal. I am also using projects in my program to reach out an network with professionals in the field I am interested in.

Habit 4 – Think Win/Win: Being a positive thinker is always useful. Covey illustrates that this habit is a balance between a personal and public win. Using my education as an example, if I work diligently on my studies and achieve a great mark from my professor(personal win), the school also wins because they have mentored a student with a high aptitude(public win).

Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: In my opinion habit 5 is one of the most important, and most difficult, habits to learn. The habit title is self explanatory, however being able to listen is something that not everyone is good at. Being able to listen and fully understand a problem allows you to be able to find the right solution faster. Again using my education as an example, if I was given an assignment that was 3 pages long and only read the first page, I would be at a disadvantage because I do not have a full understanding of what is being asked of me. However if I was able to read the whole assignment I would be able to accurately answer the questions, giving me the best opportunity to receive a good mark.

In addition to these 3 habits that I have listed, I will continue to Be Proactive and ensure my studies are completed fully and on time. I will also try to improve my time management skills by Putting First Things First. These two habits are very important in a school field and the workplace to be successful. 

I currently work in a luxury hotel. By using these habits in the workplace I am able to anticipate guests needs before they ask for them (Be Proactive). By ensuring our guests feel rested and well looked after I am increasing customer retention which increases hotel revenues and increases the amount of shifts I receive, which increases my personal revenue (Think Win/Win). When a guest comes to me with a problem I will fully listen to them to understand completely what they are having a problem with. If I cannot personally resolve the solution I can find someone for them that can (Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood).

The Fairmont hotel chain is a perfect example of the 7 Habits. They preach empowerment and anticipation of guest needs. The following video highlights what their mission statement is all about. http://youtu.be/ZchhLHWvNRU

Works Cited

Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People . 2004, 15th Anniversary Edition, NY: Free Press.

FairmontCareers. (March 24, 2011). Our Brand Promise – “Turning Moments into Memories”. Youtube. http://youtu.be/ZchhLHWvNRU