Free Essay Example - Principles of Management

Self-awareness is a trait enables us to take a stand, assess our personal attitudes and behaviors, and also how we see other people. This trait helps to separate humans from the animal world. The "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" explains how many individuals who have accomplished a high degree of outer success often find themselves grappling with an inner urge of growing personal efficacy and developing sound relations with different people (Covey, 2013). Covey believes the way humans view the world is utterly grounded on their own perception, hence prompting them to take responsibility for their life.

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#1

Be proactive means taking responsibility for your life. Proactive people understand that they are responsible and they do not fault circumstances, genetics, their existing character for their current behavior (Covey, 2013). They are different from reactive people who are normally affected by external stimuli. The proactive focus, positive energy enlarges our "circle of influence" to grow unlike in reactive people where it does the opposite. The key components that determine the proactivity of an individual include; self-awareness, conscience, imagination, and independent will (Covey, 2013).

The theory behind being proactive is the freedom to choose. Which states that rather than perturbing about situations which you have little or no control of, proactive people focus their time and vigor on issues they have control (Covey, 2013). The challenges and prospects humans face are categorized into two spheres- Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence (Covey, 2013). "Starting with the end in mind" is vital for a business. Becoming a boss is about improving your efficacy (Covey, 2013). However, being a leader is about developing the right strategic vision for your firm.

#2

I use and hear reactive phrases such as "If only", "I can't", and "I have to" frequently from the surrounding people. This depends entirely on the external events and processes in our environment (Covey, 2013). Despite the fact that they are outside, they control our lives since people have little control over their emotions.

In the near future, I might encounter low production and absenteeism of employees in my organization. This could be as a result of low wages/salary. For obvious reasons, my circle of influence will impart reactive behavior due to the feelings of the external event. Reactively, this is how I could respond, "If only I treated my employees better, they could augment production" (Covey, 2013). However, I could be proactive and respond to the situation without the effects of negative emotions or external events. For instance, I would respond to the reactive statement by using the phrase "I want to treat my employees better so that they can augment production".

I have experience from my personal life that once frustrated me. I planned a business tour to visit a company for a personal test. The weather for that day mentioned a possibility of raining but I was not worried. However, I was afraid that the visit could fail because of the weather. In the end, it did rain cats and dogs and by the time the people could arrive, it was late. This is a no control problem since I could not change the weather or the date for the tour. However, the first step I can take in the circle of influence to solve it is to check before setting the date to see if there was a possibility of raining.

References

Covey, S. R. (2013). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. Simon and Schuster. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sm4TAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=The+7+Habits+of+Highly+Effective+People%E2%80%9D.+&ots=vFIY0RPN07&sig=avXIBrW8Ig5s_0RICNl3sw1mSh8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=The%207%20Habits%20of%20Highly%20Effective%20People%E2%80%9D.&f=false