Application of Leadership Principles

A common assignment on Application of Leadership Principles for business administration often uses Steven Covey's book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leadership.

Apply the principles of leadership to an actual work situation and prepare a research paper describing the project. Stephen Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is a guide that explains the practices and skills needed to help people achieve success in their personal and professional lives. The book introduces seven habits which build on each other so that individuals can learn to identify which skills need improvement and which skills are missing. It provides exercises and models to help people pinpoint what they need to change for the better and suggestions for how to develop the skills that lead to a productive and successful life.

Discuss the following in the project:

• Application of leadership principles to actual work situations where principle-centered leadership would enhance the work environment
• Employee productivity
• Service quality
• How to improve the business margin

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is divided into four main sections: Paradigms and Principles, Private Victory, Public Victory, and Renewal. Part One, Paradigms and Principles, is comprised of the first two chapters. In these chapters, Covey describes how people may be very effective in one part of their life and struggle with issues in another part of their life. For example, a person may be very successful at work and struggle to keep his or her family life together. In these chapters Covey stresses the importance of internal happiness in achieving success in all parts of one's life. Covey contends that when people concentrate on becoming happy on the inside, outside goals are much easier to achieve. As stated by Covey, "there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character". The second chapter of Part One provides an overview of the second habits. In this section, Covey describes a habit as the point where knowledge, skill and desire intersect. He reminds readers that while it is difficult to break a habit, it can be done.

Leadership Principles

1. Primary laws of Love: Patience, Kindness, Contentment, Humility, Respect, Selflessness, Forgiveness, Honesty
2. Trustworthiness: Integrity, Maturity, Positive Relationships, Emotional bank account, "Compelling trust is the highest form of human motivation"
3. Personal Character/ Characteristics of Superior Leaders: Honest-83%, Competent- 67%, Forward-Looking 62%, Inspiring-58%
4. Characteristics of Values: The worth we place on people and ideas, self chosen beliefs and ideals - our map, or the lens in which we see the world - Paradigm
5. Proactive: choose your attitude - vs. reactive
6. Self Deception and Self-Betrayal: you see justification in your actions, your view is distorted, you enter the 'box', and you carry it with you and collusion 'sets in'. People
   are either objects or people.
7. Principles of Responsive Leadership:
   1. I am the servant
   2. I honor the agency of others
   3. I see greatness in each subordinate
   4. I will build community, Dominant principle HONESTY
8. The Circle of Influence: Having a strong strength of purpose
9. Beginning with the End in Mind: Personal Mission Statement - state of purpose
10. Put First Things First: Self Management
    1. Think Always Win-Win
    2. Seek First To Understand, Then To Be Understood
11. Synergize: Instead of compromising and caving in, seek to understand and take time to build trust and a relationship then come up with something better than either individual idea: 1+1=1 ½ Compromise; 1+2=2 Additive; 1+1=100 Synergy
12. Sharpen the Saw: Daily spend time doing activities that are- Physical, Mental, Spiritual - 'Strengthen the fire within'

Principles in a Work Situation

Covey's book is a step-by-step model to help people achieve success through the application of leadership principles. The book is written in such a way that every habit builds on the other habits already discussed. Each habit is explained so that it is easy to understand how each dimension helps apply leadership principles. Overall, the book is one that serves as a guide to self-examination so that readers can pinpoint exactly what personal improvements are needed.