Habits

Its was year 2008, I just got confirmed as an assistant manager in Mahindra. I worked for period of 1.5 years with a team working on development of steering, brake, clutch and HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioner) systems. After this I moved into a new team responsible for development of interior and exterior parts for automobiles. I was less assured as I knew nothing about plastic and rubber component development. But the best part was I was reporting Mr Bhushan Paranjape. He was one of very few people then who showed confidence in my ability .I will be ever thankful to him, because the real good people are the ones who back you and give confidence when you were no one .Paranjapee Sir as I address him is one of the finest human being I have come across. Honest, intelligent, humble, jolly, knowledgeable and has all the good qualities that one can ask for in a human being.

Working with him was so exciting that I would have loved even to work on weekends. That’s what an exceptional leader does; he brings out the best in every team member. For me working with him was great because our values matched and goals were aligned towards good work. Working with him I always had the confidence that if I failed or something went wrong he will always be there to support me. Let me now come to the point, he introduced me to the seven habits of highly effective people. During team meetings he would share with us the seven principles of highly effective people. This got me interested in understanding more about these habits and prompted me to buy the book written by Stephen Covey.As per Stephen Covey, long term success is possible only through principle centered life. Having good character is most important which can guide one through difficult and turbulent times. Stephen Covey after a thorough research figured out seven principles that are most important for success in any area of pursuit. I will give a brief idea on each of the seven principles

Be Proactive: This means one should always anticipate and visualize future, take correct actions in life. Don’t allow life and circumstances to dictate terms in your life. One is creator of ones own destiny. There is no point in being reactive and pointing fingers at others for personal failures. Nothing is more important than personal resolve to succeed."Your personal resolve to succeed in more important than any other thing"--Abraham Lincoln

Begin with the end in mind: If one doesn’t know his or her goal in life the best way is to begin with the end. Imagine yourself lying dead in a coffin and  then see what people around you are talking about you. Think what you want to be known for once you are no more. It’s certain you will get the answer. So coming back from end to beginning can make setting life's goal easier. A life without a goal is nothing but a precious life wasted.

Put First things first: Time is a limited quantity available to us. As we are born our days are already numbered. It’s very important to figure out the most important things in life and work on those. Most people in life work on lots of things which are not at all important. So it keeps them in a fire fighting mode and wastes their valuable time. Always work on the things which are important and not urgent. It means work on things which will be beneficial to us in long term. For example we generally neglect exercising even though we know its most important thing to do. This is because the benefits of exercise are not immediate. Not exercising will cause harm only in long run. "Your time is limited dont waste your life living somebody else life"-Steve Jobs

Think win-win: In all life situations generally there will be two or more parties or people involved. As per this principle for having any progress in life it’s very important to think about others interests along with our own interest. For example in our professional life it’s very important that we value our colleagues and give importance to their contributions too. If a company only thinks about bottom lines and profits without considering interest of its customers, employees and suppliers it can’t sustain in long run. Most people tend to adopt the win-loose or loose-win or loose-loose approaches which can’t give long term dividends.

Seek to understand and then be understood: It means we should always try to understand other persons side of the story too. Listen to what others have to say and value their point of view.Reading, writing, speaking and  listening are four ways in which we interact with the people around us. Out of all four mentioned above listening is most neglected and I have to confess I have met very few people who have ability to listen. Charlos Ghosn CEO of Renault Nissan rates listening and ability to connect to people as the two most important things needed for leadership. We generally don’t listen to others because we think our point of view is always correct, which shouldn’t be the case always.

Synergize: It means using all the principles mentioned above and working together with others to achieve great things. Team work is the key to success. No one can achieve anything significant alone.

Re sharpen the saw: Abraham Lincoln one of the greatest President of USA has said “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, I will spend first four hours sharpening the saw”. It means we should be on a continuous improvement program (Kaizen in Japanese).Try to be a better person, learn some thing new daily and keep updated with the things of past and future. Most people generally never study anything after passing out from college. But real education starts only after passing out from college. Only thing that gets better in the Universe with more work is Human brain. Better to wear out than to rust out.