FranklinCovey Blog

Leading the 21st Century Workforce

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 | The Leader In Me | 1 Comment

Have you ever wanted something to change but didn’t know how to start?  We have all been in the position of making a choice; the choice to walk away or to work within our Circle of Influence.

When Andrew Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express, read Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s, The 8th Habit, he found something intriguing in the back of the book-a CD with video clip from A.B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. Cherng already knew, firsthand, how powerful the 7 Habits could be.  But, could children as young as kindergarten be taught the timeless principles? Andrew and Peggy Cherng decided to visit the school.

The theme at A.B. Combs is leadership. It permeates everything they do and every choice they make. They do not believe that every child will be or should be a CEO. Rather they focus on leadership principles with the 7 Habits as their foundation.

Leadership principles:

  • Helping students take responsibility for their lives.
  • Working with others more effectively.
  • Doing the right thing even when no one is looking.

The 7 Habits:

  • Habit 1: Be Proactive You’re in Charge
  • Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind Have a Plan
  • Habit 3: Put First Things First Work First, Then Play
  • Habit 4: Think Win-Win Everyone Can Win
  • Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood Listen Before You Talk
  • Habit 6: Synergize Together is Better
  • Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Balance Feels Best

What would be different in your business if the children of today/your future employees came to you with these principles already firmly established?

“When we recruit leaders, we like to see people who are able to project their passion, who have self-confidence, and who have the right attitude to really face the unknowns and the uncertainties that we all face every day in our personal or career lives. I saw all those traits in the children at A.B. Combs.” – Peggy Cherng.

Andrew and Peggy Cherng decided to sponsor six schools in their community.

Since then Panda Express has committed to sponsoring three additional schools and many other businesses have seen the potential in The Leader in Me and decided to sponsor schools.

We only get one chance to prepare our students for a future that none of us can possibly predict.  What are we going to do with that one chance?

 For more information, go to www.TheLeaderInMe.org or call (800) 272-6839.

 Author: Judy Yauch, FranklinCovey Education Solutions

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1 Comment to Leading the 21st Century Workforce

Janet Wise
May 24, 2010

I, too, read the 8th Habit, and watched the video of A.B. Combs Elementary. what was even more significant was the racial diversity among the students, but somehow, they made unity WORK. This is something I don’t see in my racially diverse town of Rochester, MN: home to the world-famous Mayo Clinic and IBM. You would think that we would “get” it, and we talk a good game! But it would seem we are lacking a true emotional buy-in in our schools. Not sure if this is reflective of the top-end leadership, or the middle managers or the front-line burn-out. Maybe all three. But our students continue to suffer. They seem to fall further and further behind. Universal Principles are safe; our children need to know them and understand that, like the Law of Gravity, even though they can’t see them, they still exist. I would have stayed out of a LOT of trouble as a child if I’d have believed that “What goes around comes around.” But I didn’t believe that the Universe was capable of knowing when I was lying; if no one “saw” me, how would they find out? But this type of honesty (the kind I didn’t practice!) is crucial for our children, and an important quality of a true leader. We can “script” these children early, with universal truths. Of course, 12-step programs might lose their popularity, and addictions would fade……

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