Leadership - Report
Being proactive is crucial to every successful person, who aspires to master their life. Many of us perceive proactive people as spiritual leaders, the men of action and the initiators of creative ideas. In this respect, in his fundamental work, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Covey describes the quality of being proactive as the basis of all the other six habits, ranking it first (2005).
Exercise 1
Covey defined Habit 1 as taking responsibility for one’s own choices, suggesting that “Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions” (2005). In other words, being proactive means controlling one’s life consciously. Proactive people, as a rule, do not blame the external forces for their flaws and mistakes; they do not hesitate to ask questions to avoid misconceptions. Such individuals devote their time to things they can control.
As recently as last week I pondered over my future career and life, in overall. I got a deeper insight into the life of influential entrepreneurs, while immersing myself in corresponding studies. Specifically, I dedicated the evening to reading the book “Zuckerberg: The Face Behind Facebook and Social Networking” by Alef. As mentioned in Appendix B, the young CEO’s revolutionary achievements are mainly a reflection of his determination and assiduousness (Alef, 2010). Therefore, I decided to grab the wheel and direct my efforts into my personal improvement. I intend to bring about positive changes in my life. In this respect, such an attitude demonstrates the quality of being proactive.
However, there exist a wide variety of conditions that tempt us and, therefore, keep us from being successful. For example, three weeks ago I could not focus on the assignment because of distractions. The decision to postpone the paper and spend some time with family indicates that I was reactive. I did not consider time management, while setting priorities.
Our approach to a situation influences its outcome. Let us suppose that I encountered financial challenges supporting my family. As a reactive person I would complain about my job, blame my manager, other employees, or even my spouse for difficult conditions. By comparison, if I were proactive, I would try to find another job or make the best of that one. Therefore, considering Habit 1 will contribute to planning my future properly. After the acquaintance with this fundamental quality I resolved to use my downfalls to the advantage as a rough draft on the way to attainments.
Exercise 2
While the first exercise focuses more on the habit of being proactive, the second one made me think about my future career. Currently I am intended to devote my energy to running a business. Moreover, I aspire to create innovative ideas and implement a potential project that will be useful for society. Apart from this, I would love to be remembered for my support and encouragement.
Considering the habit of being proactive, I would like to change my overall approach to various conditions. I am going to develop my personality, focusing more on the proactive behavior and decision making, mentioned in Appendix C. Another thing I should change is the relationship with my parents. I will spend more time with them, appreciating their contribution to my improvement. Finally, I will concentrate on my education with me being more hard-working and determined.
I possess several essential strengths that will enable success and progress. First, my mother describes me as a consistent person. I usually try to foresee possible outcomes, which prevents undesired consequences. Second, I am not afraid of challenges or obstacles in my life. On the contrary, I perceive difficulties as the way to turn my shortcomings into merits. And the last strength refers to my habit to assess different angles of a situation.
Conclusion
In overall, the biggest challenge that will lead to successful life is being proactive every day. In this regard, I should be responsible for my behavior not only in public, but with my intimate people as well. Such an attitude will ensure the stability in education (or work in future) and social life. This means asking my teachers or mentors the questions, solving problems on my own, not blaming others for any flaws, managing time, or encouraging other people for improvement. But most importantly, being proactive is about understanding the uniqueness of human nature and self-development.
References
Alef, D. (2010). Mark Zuckerberg: The Face Behind Facebook and Social Networking. Santa Barbara, CA: Titans of Fortune Publishing.
Covey, S. R. (2005). The 7 habits of highly effective people. London: Simon & Schuster.
Schermerhorn, J. R., Osborn, R., & Hunt, J. G. (2008). Organizational behavior (10th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Appendix A
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Covey is recognized as one of the most influential books ever written. This work offers essential, principle-oriented approach for tackling both personal and professional problems. Covey, the internationally respected leadership authority, describes the integral principles that ensure our adaptation to any change. The book makes one perceive challenge as the way to discover potential opportunities.
Covey designates seven crucial Habits, which influence one’s perception with respect to positive thinking, developing a proactive character, time management, progress, challenge and many other holistic concepts. In this respect, Covey ranks the Habit of being proactive prior to others. He suggests that “Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions”, explaining that proactive people take responsibility for their behavior. However, before acquiring crucial Habits, one experiences a "paradigm shift" – a so-called change in the interpretation of life.
Appendix B
The book “Mark Zuckerberg: The Face Behind Facebook and Social Networking” by Alef mainly served to provide the apparent example of a proactive person. In this respect, I see Mark Zuckerberg as the prodigy, who mastered his life, corresponding with the seven Habits. The young CEO of Facebook realized that true success incorporates both personal and professional skills. Unfortunately, not many people are familiar with the real story behind the CEO’s invention. In this regard, the majority considers him the founder of Facebook. However, I belong to those few people, who appreciate his assiduousness and contribution to easier communication.
Appendix C
In the famous book “Organizational Behaviour”, Schermerhorn et al. describe ethics and social responsibility crucial, offering many insights of great value. The report incorporates the reference to decision making. According to Schermerhorn et al., the systematic process encompasses five basic steps:
1. Recognizing the problem or opportunity.
2. Identifying alternative courses of action, and assessing their impact.
3. Considering a preferable course of action.
4. Executing the preferable course of action.
5. Assessing the results and following up as necessary.
