Empowerment Model: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Homeless Lives Matter was inspired by the author Stephen Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People a process that outlines how to move along the path to empowerment.
Independence
The first three habits surround moving from dependence to independence (i.e., self-mastery):
1 – Be proactive
Take responsibility for your reaction to your experiences, take the initiative to respond positively and improve the situation. Recognize your Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern. Focus your responses and initiates on the center of your influence and constantly work to expand it. Don’t sit and wait in a reactive mode, waiting for problems to happen (Circle of Concern) before taking action.[4]
2 – Begin with the end in mind
Envision what you want in the future so you can work and plan towards it. Understand how people make decisions in their life. To be effective you need to act based on principles and constantly review your mission statement. Are you – right now – who you want to be? What do I have to say about myself? How do you want to be remembered? If habit 1 advises changing your life to act and be proactive, habit 2 advises that you are the programmer! Grow and stay humble.
All things are created twice. Before we act, we should act in our minds first. Before we create something, we measure twice. This is what the principle is about. Do not just act; think first: Is this how I want it to go, and are these the correct consequences?[5]
3 – Put first things first
Interdependence
The next three habits talk about Interdependence (e.g., working with others):
4 – Think win-win
Genuine feelings for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way. Think Win-Win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.[9]
5 – Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to be influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem-solving. Habit 5 is greatly embraced in the Greek philosophy represented by 3 words: 1) Ethos — your personal credibility. It’s the trust that you inspire, your Emotional Bank Account. 2) Pathos is the empathetic side — it’s the alignment with the emotional trust of another person’s communication. 3) Logos is the logic — the reasoning part of the presentation. The order is important: ethos, pathos, logos — your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation.[10]
6 – Synergize!
Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals that no one could have done alone.[11]
Continual improvement
The final habit is that of continuous improvement in both the personal and interpersonal spheres of influence.
7 – Sharpen the Saw; Growth
See also: Kaizen (continuous improvement) Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes exercise for physical renewal, good prayer (meditation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to society for spiritual renewal.
Covey explains the “Upward Spiral” model in the sharpening the saw section. Through our conscience, along with meaningful and consistent progress, the spiral will result in growth, change, and constant improvement. In essence, one is always attempting to integrate and master the principles outlined in The 7 Habits at progressively higher levels at each iteration. Subsequent development on any habit will render a different experience and you will learn the principles with a deeper understanding. The Upward Spiral model consists of three parts: learn, commit, do. According to Covey, one must be increasingly educating the conscience in order to grow and develop on the upward spiral. The idea of renewal by education will propel one along the path of personal freedom, security, wisdom, and power.[12][13]