Growth Pop » covey http://www.growthpop.com GrowthPop is the community resource to learn and share about personal development media. Review, rate, and learn about books, movies, courses, workshops, games, and more, all related to personal developement and personal growth. Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:27:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Be the Boss http://www.growthpop.com/be-the-boss http://www.growthpop.com/be-the-boss#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 22:20:26 +0000 marc http://www.growthpop.com/?p=181 praying mantisAccording to Stephen Covey, Cubicle Fu Master and author of “7 habits of Highly Effective People,” being the boss is all about attitude. Not the kind of attitude that gets you a time-out, but the kind that the female praying mantis has towards her unsuspecting male mate: lull them, empathize with them, and use that power to gain influence (no need to actually sever their head or sleep with them).

From Covey:

If you remember nothing else from this blog remember this: leadership has nothing to do with formal authority, it has everything to do with influence.

Read Stephen Covey’s full article here.

    ]]>     http://www.growthpop.com/be-the-boss/feed 0     Review: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey http://www.growthpop.com/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-covey http://www.growthpop.com/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-covey#comments Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:35:27 +0000 AdamC http://www.growthpop.com/the-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-covey What it is: Wikipedia says, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989, is a self-help book written by Stephen R. Covey. … the book lists seven principles that, if established as habits, are supposed to help a person achieve true interdependent ‘effectiveness’. Covey argues this is achieved by aligning oneself to what he calls ‘true north’—principles of a character ethic that, unlike values, he believes to be universal and timeless.”

    Description: This is a deceptively basic-seeming book that will actually will reward the reader with as much depth as they are willing to seek from it. Some themes in the book are developing a sense of purpose and intentionality in life, cultivating self-discipline and ethical behavior, and ways to create social networks that work (which, in the end, comes down to love). A big theme in the book is taking on practices and self-cultivations in the service of self-improvement. The writing can occasionally be jargon-y or dense, but it is mostly an extraordinarily smooth clear well-edited read, as Covey skillfully weaves together stories and examples with theories and distinctions.

    Anecdote: I’ve read the book only once, but I’ve listened to the 7HoHEP audio tapes many many times. The audio is a recording of Covey giving a supposedly extemporaneous lecture in front of a live audience. Nonetheless, in some cases, the audio is pretty much a verbatim equivalent of the text of the book, which makes me think that either the book is in some cases transcripted, or his live lectures were delivered from a tightly scripted outline.

    Potential Turn-Offs: The book recommends a high degree of discipline, intentionality, and self-sacrifice, mentions God more than once, and draws a fair number of examples from business. People who are already hard on themselves, people whose current path is about letting go and going with the flow, or people who categorically have a problem with all businesspeople, may find the tone unpleasant.

    What I Got out of it: It would be difficult to overstate the blessings that I have gotten out of this book, and the trust that I have for its teachings. It is just flat out goodness, it is about doing and being good, but taking the path of work and self-challenge, not inactive idealism. It’s one of those books to come back to as you grow, and see how the book has magically grown along with you.

    Learn more about The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

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