Stephen Covey Quotes
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Peace of counscious is greater than peace of mind. Peace of mind is more externally oriented. Peace of consciousness is when you know you have been honest in all your business dealings.
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Start small, make a promise and keep it. Then, make larger promises and keep them. Eventually, your honor will become greater than your moods or your circumstances, which includes your medical condition and other people's stereotypic observations. Once you overcome this comparison based mentality, your confidence will soar.
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We immediately become more effective when we decide to change ourselves rather than asking things to change for us.
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To achieve goals you've never achieved before, you need to start doing things you've never done before.
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People don't listen to understand. They listen to reply. The collective monologue is everyone talking and no one listening.
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Be proactive. Ask yourself, "Are my actions based on self-chosen values or on my moods, feelings and circumstances?"
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What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life? Quadrant II activities have that kind of impact. Our effectiveness takes quantum leaps when we do them.
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You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
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People and their managers are working so hard to be sure things are done right, that they have hardly have time to decide if they are doing the right things.
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Unfortunately, too many executives believe the myths about trust. Myths like how trust is soft and is merely a social virtue. The reality is that trust is hard-edged and is an economic driver.
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Our capacity for production and enjoyment is a function, in the last analysis, of our character, our integrity.
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Inevitably, anytime we are too vulnerable we feel the need to protect ourselves from further wounds. So we resort to sarcasm, cutting humor, criticism - anything that will keep from exposing the tenderness within. Each partner tends to wait on the initiative of the other for love, only to be disappointed but also confirmed as to the rightness of the accusations made.
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Over time, I have come to this simple definition of leadership: Leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.
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We are not animals. We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.
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To receive gratitude with grace is a form of gratitude by itself, and not always an easy art to master.
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Management is formal authority given from above. Leadership is moral authority given from below and all around.
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Fundamentally, we are a product of choice, not nature (genes) or nurture (upbringing, environment).
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Most people define greatness through wealth and popularity and position in the corner office. But what I call everyday greatness comes from character and contribution.
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The 8th Habit, then, is not about adding one more habit to the 7 - one that somehow got forgotten. It's about seeing and harnessing the power of a third dimension to the 7 Habits that meets the central challenge of the new Knowledge Worker Age. The 8th Habit is to Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs.
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Quality relationships are built on principles, especially the principle of trust.
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I won't take time to repeat all the obvious benefits of physical exercise but will only underscore the well-attested fact that a program of regular exercise increases one's efficiency in every facet of life, including the depth and restfulness of sleep. And the time taken can be minimal; just a few minutes of calisthenics and running in place in one's room or jogging around the yard or block is often sufficient. Exercising doesn't take time. It saves time. Still, few consistently do it.
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The most effective way I know to begin with the end in mind is to develop a personal mission statement or philosophy or creed. It focused on what you want to be (character) and to do (contributions and achievements) and on the values or principles upon which being and doing are based.
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Technology and tools are useful and powerful when they are your servant and not your master.
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When we say that leadership is a choice, it basically means you can choose the level of initiative you want to exercise in response to the question, ‘What is the best I can do under the given circumstances?’