Leaders’ 7 Habits

Stephen R. Covey’s, American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker, book, highly compelling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People®, remains to this day the best-seller of its genre, because on the transcending ethics such as fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity rather than trending fleeting psychological theories.

Habit 1: Be Proactive®

Don’t wait for obstacles to solve them. Always analyze and evaluate in order to forecast problems to avoid. One can achieve extraordinary results by consistently being resourceful and taking the initiative to break through barriers.

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind®

Whether in your projects, meetings, presentations, contributions,, always ask yourself “What’s your end goal” and act accordingly. The first step to being successful is having long-term vision. When you have an ultimate goal you are working towards, short term sacrifices become futile.

Habit 3: Put First Things First®

Prioritize your tasks thus eliminating futile and time-wasting tasks by focusing and executing on important goals with a weekly planning basis.

Habit 4: Think Win Win®

In order to win, you must carefully pick your team members and properly motivate them to perform optimally.  You need to be very clear with your expectations and accountability/reward system. Others don’t need to lose or sacrifice in order for you to win.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood®

Be an active listener and highly emotionally intelligent person, able to create an atmosphere of helpful environment where you take the time and effort to understand issues, and give candid and accurate feedback.

Habit 6: Synergize®

Be innovative in your problem-solving method; seek different, innovative, better solutions.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Devote  time to grow  and develop yourself physically, spiritually, mentally, and socially.

 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People® is most likely the most compelling business book you’ll ever read. Its empowering and inspiring effect has lasted for over 25 years and played a part in the transformation of millions of lives, across all age groups and professions.

Why Simon Sinek is the Best

Simon Sinek is a British-American author, ethnographer, motivational speaker and organizational consultant with a firm belief in a bright future and a big sense of optimism. He is the Camelot of the business world; He defends employees against the tyrant ways of the corporate level. So, rather than preaching to CEOs firmness and teaching them ruthless optimization strategies to manipulate their employees, Simon focuses on managers to turn them into exemplary leaders. His high sense of ethics, approaches leadership differently from his predecessors, he thinks that leaders are people-keepers; they are responsible for the wellbeing and performance of their employees.

A firm believer in the human-connection, he even refers to employees as the managers’ kids, thus annihilating the possibility of laying-off weak-performers and promoting empathy and understanding.

He is a strong opponent to mass layoffs no matter the reasons, because it doesn’t only destroy the lives of many individuals but its outcome on the company’s reputation is disastrous. Not only it sends a message that the company is in financial struggle but it also destroys the employees’ trust in the company. Every decision, the company makes is a kind of message; so if they fire people, the message will be: No matter how long you work or how hard, you will be fired if numbers are low. This strategy breeds fear and unaccoumptability.

 Just like “happy wife, happy life”, Simon  believes in, “happy employees, happy customers and successful company.

Simon’s unconventional and innovative views on business and leadership have attracted international attention; his charm and mesmerizing seminars captivate the audience and inspire them to be exemplary. Being an idealist, he seeks to create a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single day feeling inspired, feeling safe at work and fulfilled.

He is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.

His no-bullshit motto, is so sharp that he doesn’t shy away from confronting CEOs and telling them that contrary to their belief, they are not responsible of customers but of the people responsible of customers and that in the right environment all employees prosper.

Leaders have to be obsessed with where they are going; competing only against themselves, because in the end it is not about the battle it is about winning the war.

Life isn’t a scavenger hunt, it is a journey, you have to work at a relationship every moment of the day in order to find and keep love, family and friendship, you have to work hard to achieve goals. It is about the small things, it is about tactfulness and loyalty: Putting the phone upside down is not polite, not answering the call when in company isn’t an achievement, the fact that the phone is on you, sends a subconscience message to those in your company that they are not important to you, their presence is not a priority. Every e-connection such as online support groups,  phone/online, are not human therefore they are not real. Fulfillment comes from human connection that is why some people go through life without real joy; They are disconnected and alone.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books:  Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action;  Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t; Together is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration; Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team; The Infinite Game.

You can’t sit through Simon Sinek’s conferences and walk-away unmoved. His inspirational and idealistic views are able to seduce even the most skeptic listener. His charm and captivating views breath humanity to the cold environment of business. The world cease to become a jungle of impersonal decisions, it has a heart, it is personal and accountable, that’s why you can’t get bored from reading him or listening to him.

The Art of Words

Some men have a way with words, they express themselves in a clearly powerful manner. Their ability to perfect speeches makes them eloquent and charming. Although words without actions are meaningless and pointless, it’s important to strive to optimize communication and interpersonal skills.

 

Getting a message across accurately and memorably is vital to the success of any person whether in a business or personal setting.

 Hereby our tips to master the art of discourse with persuasiveness:

Continuous Learning

Learn new words and information that might be of use in daily conversations.

Spontaneity

It’s primordial to be able to speak without pre-planning and preparation. Audiences don’t want someone to recite things to them, they want interaction, something real not fake.

Confidence

Confidence, not arrogance, is essential to becoming an eloquent speaker. You need to have total faith in yourself, your knowledge, and most importantly you must learn to relax.

Simplicity

Simple speech makes a bigger impact than sophisticated language as it leaves a bad impression, listeners will assume you are fake and arrogant.

Body Language

Gestures in sync with context are as valuable as the verbal content.

Enthusiasm

If you care, chances are your listener will as well.

Your enthusiasm is contagious so if you are not excited about what you are saying, listeners will pick-up on it and get bored quickly.

Fluency rather than Silence

Silence is a mood-killer, whether you are talking socially or professionally.  It is important to practice in order to avoid having awkward silence.

Sometimes life teaches you to regard words, even from people close to you, with utmost contempt as they always turn-out to be fake. We learn to observe actions and patterns instead.

However this doesn’t lessen the importance of mastering the ability to get a message across and being eloquent.

The EQ factor

Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to identify and manage emotions. In recent years the term has gained popularity to the point that, some employers have incorporated “emotional intelligence tests” into their recruitment procedures.

The theory being that highly emotionally intelligent people constitute better leaders and coworkers because they are more in-touch with themselves as well as others, their ability to identify and manage their own frustrations, sadness,  as well as the ones of others is priceless.

Hereby are some tips to help you maximize your EQ potential.

 

Be Self-Aware  

Having a complete knowledge on one’s quirks, allows a better perception of how you are coming across to others. To be intimately self-aware make allows you to better self-management.

Be Flexible

Emotionally intelligent people don’t take things personally, therefore they are opened to feedback and criticism. It allows them to recognize flaws and reflect on unintended effects.

Analyze your Triggers

If someone’s comment triggers you, ask yourself what exactly it is that you are feeling. This allows you to verbalize emotions and develop problem-solving.

Practice Mindfulness

By observing your thoughts and feelings without assumptions, you can increase your awareness, you gain clarity and decrease sub-conscious high-jacking of negative emotions.

Breathe

Concentrate on your breathing to calm down and allow a constructive interactions with others.

Consider Possibilities

Take your time and consider multiple ways of explaining situations. The additional thought might calm you down enough to opt for a calmer response.

Empathize

Understand people and put yourself in their place, it will enable you to deal with them effectively.

Be Strong

Don’t hide or take the coward way out by leaving, deal with conflict in an effective and respectful manner.

While you put these tips to the test, bear in mind that we are not preaching cowardliness or inviting you to be a door- mattress, after-all there is nothing more deplorable than the sight of a coward or useless man.  We are merely inviting you to handle your emotions and relationships like a pro and be the best version of yourself.

 

 

Tips to Control Disruptive Emotions

When you are like a power plant gone on overload, any glitch can set you off into a complete radioactive reaction. In this case, you need a strong will to stop yourself.

Hereby, are some tips, to help you control your feelings, emotions and reactions.

1. Your End Goal

Remind yourself of the end goal to strengthen self-control and avoid discouragement.

2. A Good Sleep

A University of Washington study, reported that those who sleep for six hours or less were more likely to be triggered than those who slept for more than six hours.

3. Relax

Doctors suggest that being relaxed is better than inhibiting the temptations.

4. Exercise

Exercising regularly is a good way to vent. It also results in increasing blood and oxygen to the pre-frontal cortex, which may explain the boost in self-control ability.

5. App Support

You can resort to some apps, like StickK, to help control yourself. It redefines goal-setting using data-driven techniques that empower behavioral change. With the right tools and resources, anyone can transform their goals into reality.

6. Know Yourself

Self-awareness precedes self-management. A thorough self-assessment helps you increase your self-knowledge thus your self-control.

7. Avoid Decision Fatigue

Don’t use-up all your will power and self-control on unnecessary things.  Avoid pointless situations and keep your strength for more important things.

8. Remove Temptation

Withdraw from the situation or avoid it all together. Removing temptation, avoids the struggle of resisting temptation.

9. Manage Stress

Make a to-do list when you’re feeling overwhelmed because feeling out of control only leads to disorganization, stress and wasted time.

10. Forgive Yourself

Failure is human, learn to forgive yourself and move on.

Your actions today affect your actions tomorrow. When you auto-control yourself, you begin a new pattern of behavior and make it easier on yourself next time.