The key to being proactive is remembering that between stimulus and response there is a space. That space represents our choice- how we will choose to respond to any given situation, person, thought or event. Imagine a pause button between stimulus and response-a button you can engage to pause and think about what is the principle-based response to your given situation. Listen to what your conscience tells you. Listen for what is wise and the principle-based thing to do, and then act. Have you done this? I would love to hear how your experiences have changed.

Remember being proactive becomes much more powerful when connected and related to the other habits. The key to the habits is the power of their combined synergy and meaningful purpose.

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I felt like I really needed to freshen up my mission statement before I could teach and advise others to write theirs. It was several years ago when I first attended a 7 Habits workshop (and trust me, it was several years ago). It was at Sundance in the summer and a beautiful place to enjoy nature and discover my passion through writing my first personal mission statement. Since that time, I’ve had another child, put two daughters through college, celebrated many more wedding anniversaries, and advanced my career to my dream job. A lot has happened since that first mission statement was written and my paradigm on life has matured.

So, in a hurry I thought I’d try out the Mission Statement Builder tool on the FranklinCovey website. I thought I’ll get this done in a hurry, it can’t be that difficult, I’ll do it while I’m listening in to this conference call-you know how we multi-task while the phone’s on mute, admit it you do it too. 

But surprisingly I really got into the process. The tool is easy to use, asks the right questions in the right order, and pulls it together in a final format. When you’re done you say “Wow! That was cool and look at what I can do!”

I thoroughly enjoyed going through the process again. I loved getting in touch with my voice, my passion, and recognizing some of my achievements thus far in life.

Next step is to decide which of the products I want to put my mission statement on-do I want a poster? What picture should I put on it? I’m not really good at journaling so maybe my mission statement on a journal would encourage me to do more. Decisions, decisions.

But now I’m ready to go out and inspire others and I’ll definitely encourage these teens to go home and do their own mission statement builder after camp.

I’ll keep you posted on which product I choose-I’ll blog about it when I get back (if I survive!).

You can build your mission statement or revamp your current mission statement at: www.franklincovey.com/msb

Author:  Annie Oswald

When Andrew Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express, read Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s, The 8^th 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

 Covey suggested the following to parents in the article:

•  Parents can help their children be successful by affirming their children’s worth and potential in a way that inspires them to feel it is so. Children don’t derive their sense of self from being compared with other people. True success comes from character and not just from being rich and famous.

•  A family mission statement is vital and should deal with the four parts of life – - mind, body, heart and spirit. It should also focus serving others, whether it’s working at a food bank or helping friends who come from dysfunctional families.

• Parents should not compare their children with other children. Too many parents don’t love their children unconditionally and they are focused on the success of money, recognition and achievement rather than on character and contribution.

• Good grades in school are the byproduct of living by correct principles and becoming one’s own personal leader.

• Parents should have their kids teach them what they’re learning in school. They should be excited and enthusiastic so kids start to feel, ‘Wow, my parents are really learning. I’m their teacher. I’m a good student.’ Teens tend to be resistant at first, but if parents start slowly with their favorite subject, they will become top students. But it takes time, which a lot of parents don’t give.

• Parents can help children deal with stress by saying no to things that aren’t urgent. They can listen to their children with true intimacy and let them express themselves fully, without judgment, advice or prying, which will remove a lot of stress from their lives.

Watching TV and computer use should be limited. Every child can watch TV for one hour a day, or seven hours a week but rarely on school nights. Children should use computers for their homework, but not extensively for games.

This is timely advice for parents and for anyone who wishes to make a difference in the life of a child.  To see Covey’s interview with USA Weekend, click here.

Click here to read more articles by Stephen R. Covey

 Author: Debra Lund, Public Relations Director, FranklinCovey

In an interview I recently had with Dr. Stephen R. Covey for the FranklinCovey Client Facilitation Academy, I asked him a series of questions provided by our client facilitators that included challenges they are facing as they teach in their organizations to issues some may be struggling with when living the principles of effectiveness. In some cases, as the interviewer, I took the liberty of asking for further clarity or a “deeper dive” on topics that might be of interest. Those additional questions are italicized. Here are a few of the responses.

Q – Thomas Sibert of the Naval Support Activity asked :
“Early in the 7 Habits Signature Program, the idea of “principles” is introduced. It has worked for me to ask participants what principles of government the United States is based on. They quickly come to the Declaration of Independence and the statement “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Do you find this example consistent with your definition of a principle?”

A – Dr. Covey’s response:
“Definitely yes, but that is only the beginning because it took over 120 years for women to get the right to vote and over 80 years before we had the Emancipation Proclamation. So to enculturate and institutionalize these principles is the real challenge today.”

Please refresh us on the definition of principles vs values.

“To expand, a principle is a natural law like gravity. It’s different than a value. Values are subjective; principles are objective. Gravity… if you drop something, gravity controls. If I don’t tell you the truth, you won’t trust me-that’s a natural law. If I tell you the truth consistently and try to live it and apologize when I don’t and try to get back on track, then I’m living a natural law-repentance, making improvements, showing change.”

Q – Mark Allman with MEADWESTVACO asked:
“Of all of the items that you have worked with people on to help them in both their private and professional lives, if you could only share one thing with people, what in your opinion would impact them the most.”

A – Dr. Covey’s response:
“Educate and obey their conscience. Educate their conscience by studying the scriptures or the material that inspires them the most, until it becomes part of your conscience. Then obey it. Little by little, as you obey it, you will get more education and then you obey that. More and more light will come.
To read the interview in its entirety please clicks the link below to access the Academy archives or to learn how to become a certified FranklinCovey facilitator.
http://www.franklincovey.com/tc/facilitation

Author: Scott Miller, General Manager Global Client Facilitator Services, FranklinCovey