Implementing the 7 habits of highly effective people for successful leadership

For a project to be successful, the project manager must have the correct skills and competence, on both a technical and leadership level. Some important leadership characteristics include being optimistic, supportive, collaborative, being able to manage relationships and conflicts, paying attention to the workers by asking questions and truly listening to the answers, being result- and action- oriented, and, most importantly, create a positive workplace environment.

These skills and their implementation are discussed in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a book written by the American author, educator, keynote speaker and businessman Stephen Covey. The book is a personality development tool about business and self-help and covers an approach to being effective to principles based on character ethic. He presents 7 habits to help progress from dependence, through independence, to reach interdependence. This progression is referred to as the maturity continuum. The 7 habits are:

1. “Be proactive”
2. “Begin with the end in mind”
3. “Put first things first”
4. “Think win-win”
5. “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”
6. “Synergize”
7. “Sharpen the saw”

These habits can be divided into subcategories, where the first three are designed to help achieve independence, the next three to achieve interdependence, and the final habit to help maintain the earlier achievements.

This article will focus on these 7 habits and how they can be implemented for a successful leader in project management.

The 7 habits

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a concept that examines and alters a person's personality, motivations, and behaviour. The idea of how you should perceive the world and connect with others is at the heart of its knowledge. Overall, the 7 habits encourage you to manage your time and goals, define your character, and form effective connections, all of which are valuable abilities to have in the workplace, both as a leader and as an employee. The concept is designed to be a process of development and progress rather than a quick remedy.

Political, philosophical, religious, economical, generational, gender, and lifestyle distinctions do not apply to the 7 habits. They are universal and timeless, independent of personal, interpersonal, and organizational effectiveness and may be applied in any context or environment.

Jim Collins, business thought leader and author of the New York times best seller Good to great summarized the habits, in his foreword to the 25th anniversary to the book:

“There had been hundreds of years of accumulated wisdom about personal effectiveness…but it was never assembled into one coherent, user-friendly framework. Stephen Covey created a standard operating system —the “Windows®”—for personal effectiveness and he made it easy to use…. The ideas embedded in the framework are timeless. They are principles. That is why they work, and why they speak to people in all age groups around the globe…. But, I think the most important aspect of the 7 Habits—what makes it not just practical, but profound—is its emphasis on building character rather than “attaining success.” There is no effectiveness without discipline and there is no discipline without character. …I have come to a personal belief…that great leadership begins first with character—that leadership is primarily a function of who you are, for this is the foundation for everything you do.”

As mentioned in the introduction, the first 3 steps are designed to take you from dependence to independence. Going from being completely dependent on someone else, to be independent on your own – a personal victory. Steps 4-6 are taking you from independence to interdependence, transferring your independence into teams and being able to cooperate with different people, with different backgrounds – a public victory. While the 7th step is maintaining and renewing the previous habits.

Following is a short description of the habits, and their main principle/principles:

1. Be proactive

Habit 1 is about taking responsibility for where you end up. People are responsible for their own choices and are free to make choices in accordance with their own values, and not their current mood/conditions. Focus on the things you can change and influence, don’t blame others for your situation.

2. Begin with the end in mind

The 2nd habit is about vision, planning and purpose. Have a plan. To be highly effective you need to set goals for your life, weeks, days, and any project, small or big. Don’t live day to day without a clear end goal in mind.

3. Put first things first

Eisenhower matrix. Describing how you should handle an action dependent on its urgency and importance.

Prioritization, organization, and discipline are the key words for the 3rd habit. Spend time on what’s most important and plan around it. Say no to the less important things, make a schedule, and follow it with discipline. Work first, then play. A tool to help define what’s important is the Eisenhower matrix, a tool made by earlier US president Dwight Eisenhower. The matrix focuses on what’s important, and what’s urgent, and how you should handle the different actions. The order of the quadrants is important. The first quadrant should be handled first and the 4th last, moving from left to right (urgent and important, not urgent and important and so on).

4. Think win-win

Habit number 4 is about thinking interdependently (dependent on each other). Seek win-win solutions for all the parts and not win-lose (selfish) or lose-win (martyr). Consideration, courage, mutual benefit, and fairness are points one must consider. This mindset can lead to better relationships with your partners and a better exchanging of different knowledges in the present, but also in the future.

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

Start off by being a good listener. Listen to the other persons feelings, ideas, motivation etc. Then, by taking your counterparts thoughts into consideration, express your thoughts and feelings with respect. By doing this, one will achieve respect, mutual understanding, and empathy which will lead to deeper relationships with higher trust, with a safe space for feedback.

6. Synergize

Habit number 6 is all about “teamwork makes the dream work”. It focuses on the principle that a team can produce results no individual could achieve alone. By combining and respecting different strengths, perspectives, opinions, different backgrounds and ideas there is a higher chance of achieving creative cooperation (1+1=3), instead of compromise (1+1=1/2) or merely cooperation (1+1=2)

7. Sharpen the saw

For a saw to stay effective, it needs to be sharpened from time to time. The same goes for humans. The 7th habit is all about taking time for self-care and self-renewal, especially in 4 areas: body (physical), mind (mental), heart (social/emotional), and spirit (spiritually), in order to stay balanced, and thus effective. Keywords to take away from the 7th habit is renewal, health and wellness, continuous improvement, and balance.

Habits

First of all, what defines a habit? A habit is an automatic behavioural routine that repeats itself regularly, without one giving it a second thought. They are learned, not instinctive, humane behaviours that comes automatic, without an explicit intention of the person. The person him/herself may not be aware over this behaviour, but it is when the person is made aware that they can control and, if necessary, change it.

One thing is knowing what habits you should adapt, another thing is how. Habits can be broken down into 4 basic parts: cue, craving, response and reward. It is easier to understand, and later implement, what a habit is, how it works, and how to improve it if we break it down into these four basic components.

Cue

The cue is what causes your brain to start acting a certain way. It is a tidbit of information that forecasts a reward later. Cues that communicated the location of major rewards like food, water and sex were important to our prehistoric ancestors. We now spend the majority of our time studying signs that predict secondary rewards such as money, power, acknowledgment or a sense of personal fulfilment. These pursuits also indirectly increase our chances of survival and reproduction, which are the fundamental goals of a human’s life

Cravings

Cravings are the motivating factor behind all habits. There is no reason to act unless there is a certain amount of motivation or desire, unless we crave a change. The shift in state that the habit brings is what you seek, not the habit itself. It is not the fact that you want to smoke a cigarette, you crave the relief it gives you. The sensation of having a clean mouth and good dental health is what gives you the motivation to brush your teeth, not the activity itself. There is a lot of examples, but the main takeaway is that every craving stems from a desire to alter one’s interior state.

It's also important to remember that people are different, and so are their cravings. People are rarely motivated by the same cues in actuality. Cues have no meaning until they are decoded, and the observer’s ideas, feelings and emotions are what turn a cue into a craving.

Response

The response is your actual habit. This might be expressed as a thought or an action. How motivated you are and how much friction is linked with the behaviour determine whether or not you respond. You won’t do something if it involves more physical or mental effort than you are ready to output. The ability to respond is also a factor. You can’t form a habit if you are simply not capable of performing the action. If you can’t jump high enough to reach the hoop, you won’t be able to dunk a basketball.

Reward

At last, the response provides a reward. Every habit’s ultimate goal is to be rewarded. The cue is about identifying the reward. The desire for the reward is the source of the craving. The response is all about getting the prize. We seek out rewards for two reasons: they pleasure ourselves, and they teach us.

Habit loop describing the 4 phases of a habit.

The habit loop

A feedback loop best describes the four stages of habit. They constitute an everlasting cycle that you are always a part of. This habit loop is constantly monitoring the surroundings, predicting what’s next, experimenting with various reactions, and learning from the outcomes.

The four stages mentioned can be split into two phases: problem and solution phase. The cue and craving stages are the problem phase. This is the point where you realize you need something to change. The response and rewards stage are the solution phase, and it’s when action is made to make the change you want to see. Every action is motivated by a desire to solve a problem. Sometimes the issue is that you see something you like and want to go get it. On the other hand, sometimes the issue is that you are in pain and want to be relieved of it. In any case, the goal of every habit is to help you address your difficulties.

This four-step process isn’t something that happens once in a while; rather, it’s a never-ending loop that’s active and running at all times while you’re alive, including right now. The brain is constantly analysing the surroundings, anticipating what will happen next, experimenting with various reactions and learning from the outcomes. This entire process takes a fraction of a second, and we repeat it over and over without recognizing how much has happened in the previous moment.

Implementing/eliminating habits

These four phases can be utilized to create a practical framework for creating positive habits and eliminating negative ones. The framework lays out a straightforward set of guidelines for this task. To create a positive habit, simply:

1. Make it obvious (Cue)
2. Make it attractive (Craving)
3. Make it easy (Response)
4. Make it satisfying (Reward)

Inverting these guidelines, gives a good framework for eliminating negative habits:

1. Make it invisible (Cue)
2. Make it unattractive (Craving)
3. Make it difficult (Response)
4. Make it unsatisfying (Reward)

James Clear does state that it is irresponsible to claim that these four laws are an exact recipe for changing all human behaviour, but that they are not far from it.

Adaptation and implementation of the 7 habits of highly effective people

Adaptation

Illustration showing how focusing on either the circle of concern or circle of influence affect each other.

Now we know what the 7 habits are and how to implement habits in general. So how does a project manager implement these exact 7 habits in his life?

1. Be proactive

Develop an understanding of what can be influenced by one’s own actions. This can be done by focusing on things that annoy you and visualizing and analysing whether they are inside your circle of influence compared to your circle of concern. If it is within your circle of influence, consider how you might be able to influence then (proactive thinking).

Eisenhower matrix. Describing how you should handle an action dependent on its urgency and importance.

2. Begin with the end in mind

Define your objectives and the image you wish to project to people. Find a trend in your life’s behaviour. In the next project you’ll be working on, apply the concepts of mental creation. Make a list of the outcomes you wish for and the steps that will get you there.

3. Put first things first

Create an action plan based on your tasks and goals for the coming week, which you should assign to the Eisenhower matrix. Evaluate how well your plan helped you to convert your deep values and purposes into you daily life at the end of that week.

4. Think win-win

On the next occasion you’re in a scenario when you need to come to an agreement or negotiate a solution, try to put yourself in the shoes of the other person and consider which option would be the best for them. Onwards, consider finding a balance between the other person’s perspective and your own, and come up with a solution that benefits both of you.

5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

Focus on the person you are speaking with in your next exchange and try to see things through their eyes to truly comprehend what their trying to say. Following that, repeat what the other person just said. You may listen in on other people’s conversations to see if they are truly listening and understanding one other. Concentrate on that and imagine what you would do to handle a conversation.

6. Synergize

When you have found yourself in a point of disagreement or conflict, attempt to comprehend the opposing part’s point of view, similar to habit 4 and 5. But at this stage consider their view and perspectives as opportunities. Consider how those distinctions could help you come up with a different solution. Search for the creative cooperation! (1+1=3)

7. Sharpen the saw

Make a list of activities that will help fuel your soul again. Consider all the four dimensions: physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual, and commit to completing these activities, as well as evaluating your progress and outcomes every week.

In order to smoothly integrate these habits into your character, it is helpful to work with the habit loop and establish and specify a cue, a routine and a reward for each of Covey’s suggestions on how to train and adapt the seven habits. Covey’s personality development tool should be taught and integrated into daily working life to profit from these project management behaviours.

Implementation

One of the most critical abilities for good project management is leadership. Covey’s personality development tool is highly suited for teaching essential leadership qualities to aspiring project managers. This technique can be deployed in a variety of ways to assist a corporation manage their projects more effectively. This may be deployed at a multi-day conference in which participants and future project managers are given tools for training and adapting the 7 habits, and this way the habits can be trained independently using these tools.

Limitations

To be able to adapt the 7 habits, and habits in general, it is quintessential that the person is openminded and willing to adapt them. These habits are not a quick fix to solve every problem you have in your project management, but rather a progress that in the very end will make you a better project manager. The process of implementing them might feel a bit too mechanical, which some people will struggle with because such a detailed a recipe might make them feel constrained and robotic. Another limitation is that step 4-6 is dependent on others as well, and that means that they also must be openminded, willing to adapt, and willing to participate. Although, it is crucial to understand that the habits are not indicators that someone is not good enough if they can’t live up to all of them, and it does not make you a worse person if you can’t. Everyone is unique and acts in unique ways. This is also not the only philosophy that can be applied towards management and leadership

Annotated Bibliography

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey": Simon & Schuster, 1989 - The book that lays the foundation of The 7 Habits. In the book the background, principles and details of The 7 Habits is explained.

"How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick, by James Clear" - An article based on habits and how to implement new habits into your life. Written by James Clear, a renowned author on habits. His definition and implementation techniques of habits have been used in this article.