Question

Leadership Book: Part 1

Think about the following questions as you read:

Why did you choose this book?

What does this book say about leadership?

Is the concept of leadership concretely defined, or does it have a more subtle definition?

Answer 1

I choose the self-help book called, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, authored by Stephen Covey that was first published in the year 1989. In the book, the author presents the ways of accomplishing the goals in alignment with the concept that he introduced i.e. ‘True North’ which is based on character ethic that is universal in nature.

I choose this book because apart from being Best-sellers in the market, the audio version of the Book equally gathered popularity in US. This book talks a great deal about ‘Character ethic’ and the ‘Paradigm shift’ that helps me, as a reader, to realize that even if two people look upon the same thing, their perception towards the same could be different. Based on this assumption, the author introduces to its readers the Seven habits that could make people effective. While the first three habits revolve around self-mastery, the next three habits deal with inter-dependence. The seventh habit talks about the Continuous improvement that is needed both in personal as well as that in the international spheres, when concerned with influence.

In terms of Leadership, the very first three habits pertain to moving gradually from dependency to being independent. In this regard, the third habit conveys the message of ‘First thing First’, which primarily draws out the difference between Management to that with Leadership. It says that Leadership with the outside world can only commence when one has own vision as well as personal leadership qualities. There is further a line of difference between Urgent and Important and therefore, priority should be given accordingly. If somebody advises us what to do but you have a different say to the same, then one must maintain personal integrity and act as a Leader in the situation.

Therefore, the concept of leadership is concretely defined here.