the rock is

The Rock is a causal contemporary church that values authenticity. We meet at West Acres Cinema at 10 am each Sunday. This is the Personal blog of Pastor Scott J Kruse.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Book Review: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People


















The 7 habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey really set the tone for a new business model. Written in 1989  (I was in the 8th grade) it was the first to put forth ideas like win win. I remember going to a win win seminar when I was in high school and a waiter at the Fargo Country Club. I did not know then that it came from this book. Here you will also find the original push for personal and business mission statements. I got kind of cynical of mission statements when the Church I was at spend 6 months and hundreds of hours crafting a mission statement that no one could remember and no one would look at again after it was done. I did learn it was not a good idea to ask your boss "so how does this fit into our mission statement?" It was then I crafted my own mission statement for my life. Ready? It is very profound. "People are going to hell and I have to do something about it."

Even though it is an older book its values for principled centered leadership is so very helpful today. I have heard each of these points echoed in other books I have read, but this is the source.

So here they are, the Seven habits.

  1. Be Proactive, have a vision and go for it. Don't wait for things to happen
  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, or creative cooperation
  7. Sharpen the Saw
If you have not read this book you need to, it was required reading for Inger Lise's MBA program. That says something as well.