The 7 habits to go from leading one to leading many

The 7 habits to go from leading one to leading many

Personal leadership is the ability to lead yourself and others towards a common goal. It is not only about having a position of authority, but also about having a vision, a purpose, and a plan. Personal leadership is based on self-awareness, self-discipline, and self-improvement. It is also about creating win-win situations, understanding others, and building your legacy.

In this article, we will explore some of the key concepts of personal leadership, based on the framework of Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

We will learn how to begin with the end in mind (Habit 2)

Put first things first (Habit 3),

Think win-win (Habit 4)

Seek first to understand then to be understood (Habit 5),

and more...

We will also see how these habits can help you achieve your personal and professional goals, as well as create a lasting impact on your family and society.

Key Concepts of Personal Leadership

Let's start with Covey's second habit: "Begin with the End in Mind." It's about setting clear goals. It's about thinking long-term, much like setting up education funds for your children as part of your generational wealth plan. This is about creating a vision for the future. Without a vision the people will perish. Personal leadership includes self-awareness, self-discipline, and aligning your actions with your core values, which Covey refers to as "putting first things first." 

Here is a good question to ask yourself.  What are your core values?  Then… 

Why are they your core values?  Is it because you were taught them? The environment you grew up in? Is it something you truly believe? You have to create a vision to believe in because everything starts with Faith.

Leading Yourself

Habit three from Covey's framework, "Put First Things First," is about managing your time effectively. This is where the work starts. Vision planning is fun.  We can spend time dreaming about the future.  And dreaming is important.  Albert Einstein said. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Developing your vision dream is important.  You might argue that is the first thing.

You have identified where you want to be.  What’s next?  

Maybe you need to become more financially literate, learn how money works. Maybe you need a higher value skill.

 Whatever it is, it is time to focus on what’s next. 

Learn how to identify and distinguish the important vs the not important. The urgent vs the not urgent and set proper priorities.  Leading yourself means making choices in line with your values, which ties back to Covey's habit four, "Think Win-Win."

You have to Think Win-Win

As the head of your family.  You need to set a vision for the family. However, with an existing family. Their current needs must also be considered. This adds another challenge to fathers but it is their responsibility to make sure our Families are taken care of.  Be sure as you're going through the process.  You keep your family as a priority.  What good is it to become wealthy and lose your family along the way.  There are plenty of examples of very wealthy public figures with a very poor private life.  You have to go for the win-win.  We have a desire to build while our kids just want us to play with them.  I’m just saying be mindful of your family.

Seek first to understand, then be understood

Now Covey uses this for interpersonal relationships, which is also important to creating a lasting legacy. I’m going to put a slight twist on it. Chances are there is a lot you have to learn to start achieving your goals.  

Where you are today is a result of your current knowledge and action. knowledge without action or action without knowledge both end up in frustration.

I find that no matter how much I collect information.  I truly don’t understand it until I apply it and start using it.  But I have to first learn it.

Learning is the best investment you can make in yourself.  Read a book. Watch educational videos. Attend seminars.  Then take some action.  Most of the time, learning something new is overwhelming.  I have found it useful to just take one thing and apply that one thing. Make a challenge to take that one thing and apply it for an X amount of days. 

One of the worst things you can do is continuously collect information and not use it.  The next worst thing is doing nothing at all while also complaining about your current status. Its a recurring theme.  Take Action. You don’t have to know it all.  You will learn it.  As long as you are committed to the process. Without action learning is a waste of time. We were only taught to learn while in school.  Very little about application. Applying one thing you learn from this article, turns your time into an investment. 

Applying your information is the best investment you’ll ever make.  It will provide you and your family with the greatest return possible.  I’m not saying everything will work out, results depend on a lot of things. I will say, if you keep applying things you learn.  You will find what works for you.  I see life as a series of experiments.  When we find something that works.  Keep doing it and improving it while performing other experiments in other areas.

Building Your Legacy

Regardless of what you see highlighted.  There is no such thing as self made.  There is self determination, self motivated but to achieve anything large in scale. You are going to need help.  You will also need to bring your family on board for this journey. They will also need to become financially literate and understand some of the choices you are making. "Synergize," (Habit 6) is about collaboration.  It takes teamwork to make the dream work. Building a lasting legacy requires personal leadership, as we've discussed. It also requires finding "mutually beneficial solutions" that create a lasting impact.

So what is next?

If you don’t have one already, create your vision.

If you have a well defined vision, then determine the next step.

Then get it done.

While you are on this journey remember to "Sharpen the Saw." (Habit 7).  This is about continuous improvement and rejuvenation. Chopping down a tree with a sharp saw is much easier than using a dull one.  Sharpening your saw has two parts, continuous learning and restoration. How you restore is just as important as taking action.  

After reading through this you may be thinking, what happened to Habit 1.  That is the most important thing at all.  

Be Proactive (Habit) no one is coming to save you.  It is up to you to learn what you need to learn, and take the appropriate action to achieve the goals you desire.

These 7 habits are the cornerstone of becoming a leader of one to lead your family on a path to generational wealth.

The 7 habits have been instrumental to my development.  I hope they help you too.

Until Next Time…