March 1998
Volume 62 |
Number 3
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| Personal Organization
Skills - Take Control and Keep It! |
Mark J. Lema, M.D., Ph.D., Editor
We are becoming so busy that it seems like we need to make an
appointment with ourselves just to self-assess our lives. Recently,
my wife bought a tape by one of the more popular and respected
experts in executive leadership training, Stephen R. Covey, Ph.D.,
author of the bestseller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People.1 She started listening
to it while we were driving, and I also began to take an interest
in the style in which he presented his concepts.
After listening to the tape three times, I felt inspired
to share Covey's system with those trying to refocus and streamline
their personal and professional lives to adjust to the current
"work harder for the same pay" trend sweeping across all medical
practices. First, in this age of disclaimers, I found Stephen
Covey's ideas to be the easiest to understand and implement. There
are, of course, other authors who present equally compelling self-help
philosophies, and one should browse before buying to determine
whose message rings clear in their mind.
Covey promotes seven habits as the foundation for better
interpersonal interactions - on the job and in the home. "Habits"
are defined as one's knowledge of what to do, one's skill
of how to do it and one's desire of wanting to do it. If
any of these three elements is missing, a habit will not form,
because if you do not know what to change, or how to change it,
or want to change it ... it will not happen! A good example would
be changing one's schedule to allot more time for continuing education
sessions to improve clinical practice. You must know what you
need to learn, have a plan for shifting commitments to allot for
the necessary time and really want to improve your knowledge/skill
level.
As his title states, there are seven habits which, if
practiced and developed into one's routine daily activity, will
allow the person to become more effective in business deals, patient
interactions, administrative/third-party payer negotiations and
personal relationships. Covey's seven habits have widespread appeal
because they develop the natural personality tendencies of most
people. The seven habits are listed here with a brief explanation
of each parameter.
Seven Habits to Become Highly Effective
Private Victory - Seek Independence
1. Be Proactive - Assume "responsibility," the "ability
to choose one's response." Do not allow conditions to dictate
what course we should choose (which would be a reactive condition).
2. Begin With the End in Mind - Develop a personal
mission statement of what is important in one's life (e.g., excellence
at work, fame, wealth, recreational time, exercise, family togetherness,
reading). Take time to develop this statement and revise it periodically.
What is important to you will form the basis for success
in the remainder of the seven habits.
3. Put First Things First - To me this habit is
one of two which, if mastered, make the others easier to attain.
Clearly, this habit is the harder to develop and requires daily
attention. See the grid below and regard your life's activities
as falling into one of the four quadrants.
I. Urgent
Important |
II. Not Urgent
Important |
III. Urgent
Not Important |
IV. Not Urgent
Not Important |
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Simply stated, one should strive to live in quadrant II; activities
must be important (to one's personal mission) but not urgent (to
cause a deadline crisis). The only way to find time for quadrant
II is to take time from quadrants III and IV (a totally useless
expenditure of one's time). By doing so, the crises in quadrant
I will eventually be reduced (and so will your blood pressure).
Public Victory - Development of Interdependence
4. Think Win/Win - Seek mutually beneficial solutions
to all human interactions. Both parties find acceptable alternatives
which are not considered compromises.
5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
- This habit is the second most important one to master. It forms
the basis for all successful deals. By seeking to understand exactly
the concerns, motivations and goals of the other party and then
verbalizing your "diagnosis of their position," you can then present
your ideas more clearly, more specifically and more contextually.
6. Synergize - Putting the other five habits together,
one can actually begin to seek better solutions to negotiations
or human conflicts than either of the two parties conceived prior
to discourse. Covey regards this habit as the highest activity
in all life.
7. Renewal - This habit focuses more on better health
- mental, nutritional, physical, spiritual and social. It involves
committing the first six habits into your personality and preserving
them by fostering a better lifestyle.
In summary, there comes a point in everyone's life where
external influences, personal maturity, added commitments and
a progressive reduction in free time produce a "crisis" necessitating
a change in the way one approaches daily problems. Motivational
speakers and authors such as Covey reach a certain (large) section
of the population who are looking for a template to change their
daily conduct.
We live in an era of personal fulfillment and self-improvements
like dieting, exercise, meditation and leadership development.
However, just like other activities, discipline and the desire
to "want to change" will determine the extent of one's success
in personal organization realignment. Don't be misled, practicing
these habits is as hard as pushing yourself away from the banquet
table - and just as rewarding.
Reference:
1. Covey SR. The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New
York: Simon & Schuster; 1989.
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