IS THERE AN EIGHTH HABIT?

 THE ART OF LISTENING

Blending Voices: The Win-Win mindset is the principle behind this alternative. It is not important for both parties to think win-win. Only one party has to believe in this mindset. That one party must prepare the other party by practising empathy and deep listening until the other party feels trust.

The most important skill in life is communication and this can be broken down into four categories—reading, writing, speaking and listening. Of the four, listening represents 40 to 50 per cent of communication time. Unfortunately, only a minuscule percentage of people have been trained formally on how to listen.

Below are the five levels of listening:

• Ignoring.
• Pretending to listen.
• Selective listening.
• Attentive listening.
• Emphatic listening.

1.  You must be willing to search for a solution that is infinitely better than what all parties have proposed.

2. You must agree to one simple ground rule—no one can make his or her point until they have restated the other person’s point to his or her satisfaction.

One Voice: pathfinding shared visions, values and strategy.

As already stated, the Eighth Habit is a combination of attitude, skill and knowledge. To be a great leader you need more than your trustworthiness. You need to be able to guide people on how to become better individuals. People need a model to see how they can work and lead in a different way. It is worth reiterating that pathfinding is the toughest undertaking of all since you have to deal with many issues, personalities, agendas, levels of trust and egos. To fully comprehend and execute the pathfinding role, you must know and wrestle with your realities. You need to clarify these four realities before you can focus on where the organization is heading.

The Four Realities:

1. Market realities: how do the people in the organization perceive the marketplace?

2. Core competencies: what are your unique strengths?

3. Stakeholder wants and needs. Target consumers, suppliers, owners, and employee needs.

4. Values: central purpose of the organization.

Through group interaction, create a written mission statement and a strategic plan. A mission statement should include your sense of purpose, your vision and your values. This is your goal—your roadmap. A strategic plan describes how you will provide value to your customers and stakeholders. This is your focus. Your strategic plan tells you how to be on track. Properly empowered mission statements are usually produced when there are enough people who are fully informed, who interact freely and synergistically and who are in an environment of high trust.

Alignment and Empowering

Aligning goals and systems for results:

The second major source of trust is the organization. However, an organization requires both organizational character and organizational competence. These are the very principles that people have built into their value systems. These principles are the basis for designing structures, systems, processes and personal values aligned with organizational values.

Discipline is needed at this phase. You need to be able to align your structures, systems, processes and culture to be able to realize your vision.

Aligning requires constant vigilance. It requires constant adjustments due to changes in realities. Systems must be changed to keep up with the times but must also be based on unchanging universal principles.

One alignment tool that you can use is the Balance Score Card feedback system. This system can inform you if your strategy is still in-line with your mission, or if you are still on track in meeting your goals.

The Empowering Voice- Releasing Passion and Talent

Empowerment is the result of personal and organizational trustworthiness. It allows people to take control, manage and organize their lives and careers.

When people are empowered, the leader ceases to be the boss. He becomes a servant to the organization. It shows that the leader is not afraid of losing control. Rather, the leader is giving his people the power to take control of the things that directly affect them.

Leaders create a much higher degree of flexibility, adaptability and creativity by focusing on the maturity, character and competence of each team member.

Empowerment and Performance Appraisal

1. How is it going?

2. How are you learning?

3. What are your goals?

4. How can I help you?

5. How am I doing as a helper?

Summary

The Eighth Habit and the Sweet Spot

The Eighth Habit gives you the key to understanding and unleashing both your own potential and the potential of the other people around you. As a review, you must remember what part each role player plays and their importance:

1. Modelling: inspires trust without expecting it.

2. Path-finding: creates order without demanding it.

3. Aligning: produces institutionalized moral authority.

4. Empowering: unleashes human potential without external motivation.

Modelling and pathfinding give you focus. Aligning and empowerment, on the other hand, make things happen, and are based on the permanence of focus.

Six Core Drivers to Execution

1. Clarity.

2. Commitment.

3. Translation.

4. Enabling.

5. Synergy.

6. Accountability.

The Four Disciplines of Execution

1. Focus on the wildly important.

2. Create a compelling scoreboard.

3. Translate lowly goals into specific actions.

4. Hold each other accountable all the time.

The seven habits you have learned from Stephen Covey’s previous book are still relevant. However, the Knowledge Worker Age calls for the need of an 8th Habit that can help you further in your journey towards personal and organizational excellence.

You must find your voice and inspire others to find theirs. Start by creating your own personal significance. After you have done so, inspire others to do so as well. If you are managing a team, create a trusting work environment where people search for win-win solutions and share visions. With the 8th Habit, what was good can only get so much better.