The 8th Habit

I first read the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey when I was taking my Masteral program. I remember it was one of the assigned readings in the course Managerial Leadership. I took that course during the First Semester of SY 1997-1998, more than a decade ago. That book was quite a hit during that time so I even bought my own copy. But like any other books assigned to that class, I read the book and forgot it eventually.

I've completely forgotten the existence of that book not until about a few years back when I was doing an inventory of my personal books. I saw the book, browsed the pages and the subtitle in page 23 caught my eye, The Power of a Paradigm. I was in that stage in my life where I was evaluating my own paradigm. I think I've just finished reading The Secret and I was into Wallace Wattles' The Science of Getting Rich. I was so caught up in the abundance mentality that all my decisions, the way I think and talk, and even the writings in my blogs reflected that mentality. So I pulled the book from the shelf and started reading it again. Since then, I've been a fan of Stephen Covey. I even bought two more recent books, Leader in Me and The 8th Habit.

To tell you about the contents of these books will not do justice to Stephen Covey. Reading these books was a personal experience for me. A process that others may not go through even if they read these books over and over again. But for me, the experience was life changing. It was not something that changed me overnight or maybe it would even take years before I would be able to integrate all those concepts into my everyday habit. But the message is very clear, we need to have a paradigm shift. As Albert Eintein said, "The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." I've been so fixated on changing my personality, attitude, behavior, techniques, etc. that I even bought and read so many quick-fix books. I was so convinced that if I just set my mind on certain things, everything will just follow. I was a believer of the old maxim "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." Then after I've read and re-read the 7 Habits, I slowly realized that I was following the Personality Ethic paradigm, and that like millions of people in the world, I was so caught up in a superficial quest of temporarily addressing my own pesonal problems.

As I read and get acquainted with the other books of Stephen Covey, I realized that I'm starting to have a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking, a new lens, a new perspective. In the process, I'm starting to get re-acquainted with my own self. So two years ago, I decided to take charge of my life. I applied for a PhD program and asked permission from my boss to study full time. I slowly integrated the concepts that Dr. Covey was saying into my life. I was tired of blaming the circumstances around me, of being a 'victim', of thinking what if, so I decided to take control of my own life. Initially, I heard comments that my PhD program is not 'appropriate' or suited to my current work. But I did not let myself be affected or be distracted by those comments, I have a freedom to choose... "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness." According to Dr. Covey, the size of the space in between is largely determined by a person's biological make-up and by his/her upbringing and present circumstances. But the key point is that there is that space, it maybe large for those who grew up in a loving and supporting environment, or it may be small for those with challenging genetic and environmental influences. This framework, I think, answers the crux of the ontological controversy whether or not humans have free will and, if so, how much or what is the scope of that free will.

According to Julia Wood, the ontological assumption of determinism assumes that human behavior is governed by forces beyond individual control, determined by biology and the environment. What we are now are products or inevitable results of our genetic inheritance, environmental influences, or a combination of these two. To quote Sigmund Freud, "Biology is destiny." Freudian psychology postulates that whatever happens to a person when he/she was a child would shape his.her character and personality and will govern his/her entire life. At the other end of the spectrum is the assumption that humans have free will and the freedom to choose. But many people, uninformed by the traditions of this assumption, thought that having free will means to have complete control over their lives. But this is not the case, scholars framed by this assumption believe that free will is still bounded or guided by our cultural background and previous experiences.

Personally, I am guided by this ontological assumption that we human beings have the freedom to choose. It is my belief that we create meanings and interpret our experiences. This belief surfaces my own ontological assumption that there is no single reality or singular interpretation of meaning. The way I interpret a phenomenon may be different from the interpretations of other people. My interpretation is framed by my own experiences. This is what Dr. Covey was saying about freedom to choose -- that our genetic inheritance and our own circumstances do not determine how we should react as individuals. Even with just a small space of freedom, we can choose to swim upstream against powerful genetic, social and cultural currents and find our freedom expanding.

Going back to my personal choice to pursue a PhD in Development Communication (DEVCOM) instead of a program that is directly related to management (considering that my Masters is in Management and I belong to the Faculty of Management and Development Studies) , I believe that I have expanded that freedom by exercising my own choice. So why DEVCOM, aside from the fact that my bachelors degree is in DEVCOM?

This choice was heavily influenced by my new paradigm, a new thinking that sees people not as mere objects to be controlled or managed but as social beings that should be inspired. I found myself, thinking, reflecting and contemplating how genuine change can be achieved. The change that Dr. Covey was talking about when he wrote the 7 Habits, a change that is principle-centered, character-based, "inside-out" approach. I became increasingly disturbed by how societal problems have continued to escalate at an alarming rate. I've started asking myself, am I not part of this society? Shouldn't I have a voice in this society that I live in? Aside from this heightened self-awareness, I've come to realized that I'm leaving in an era where a significant shift in history is still happening. We are now in the Information/Knowledge Worker age and going towards the Age of Wisdom. As Peter Drucker, one of the greatest management guru, put it: "In a few hundred years, when the history of our time is written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event those historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, not e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time -- literally -- substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it."

Indeed, our society is not prepared to handle the massive changes that are happening right now. The Information age has rendered many skills and techniques irrelevant. Many people are still using the Industrial age paradigm in dealing with the challenges of this new age. In the field of management, we still treat people as if they are things to be controlled and managed. Dr. Covey posed the question, "what's the direct connection between controlling 'thing' paradigm that dominates today's workplace and the inability of managers and organizations to inspire their people to volunteer their highest talents and contributions?" He provided a very simple answer... people make choices. When confronted with a difficult situation at work, people decide how they would react. They will be the ones to decide how much of their time they would devote to their work depending on how they are treated. Dr. Covey wrote the 8th Habit as a response to this challenge. He offered a two-part solution -- Find your voice and Inspire others to find theirs. Dr. Covey summarized the first solution, finding your voice, in the story of Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank - a pioneering organization that extends microcredit to the poorest of the poor in Bangladesh . How did he find his voice? First, he sensed a need to help the poor people. The voice of conscience inspired him to take action. Since his talent matched the need, he disciplined his talent to provide a solution. Then he also tapped his passion. Out of that need grew a vision. This vision has become an inspiration for others to find their voices as well. Thus, inspiring others to find their voice is a leadership challenge. By inspiring others to find their voices, you are communicating to them to the message to lead themselves. The way Dr. Covey defined leadership in his book is at its most elemental and practical level. "Leadership is communicating to people their worth and potential so clearly that they come to see it themselves."

For me, this is the best definition of leadership that captures its essentiality and practicality. This definition captures DEVCOM's ultimate goal of bringing out the best in people. From the words of Nora Quebral, " Development Communication is the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential."

Covey's definition of leadership is embodied in Gandhi's quote "We must become the change we seek in the world." I believe that in finding one's own voice, expressing it, and inspiring others to find theirs is what DEVCOM is really all about. It's becoming a leader of oneself and then leading others to lead themselves as well "from poverty to a dynamic state of socio-economic growth."