Building creativity through Lego
February 24, 2014Fun Run Fundraising for Cambodia
March 18, 2014
At PEPY, we are committed to our unending potential for improvement. Not just in our programs, but also in developing our people. Staff training is one of the key ways in which we constantly upgrade our skills and improve our competency as educators.
I am the Communications & Fundraising volunteer at PEPY and I recently conducted a training session for staff on The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I remember learning about 7 Habits as a teenager. It profoundly changed the way I saw things and interacted with the world. Since PEPY stands for dreaming big and making change, I wanted to pass on these life-changing ideas to add to the organization’s arsenal of youth empowerment tools.
Published 25 years ago, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is one of the best-selling nonfiction business books. In August 2011, Time listed Seven Habits as one of “The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books.” The 7 Habits remain relevant today because of its focus on character ethic and effecting change from the inside out, unlike the multitude of other self-improvement books proffering quick-fix solutions that do not guarantee lasting results. It aims to create a paradigm shift in individuals, fundamentally changing how a person achieves success both personally and professionally.
The 7 Habits training is a combination of everything that we need in life. I am very grateful to join the training and realizing areas of life that I never think that it is important, but it is. After the training, I feel that I will teach this to my students. I hope they will learn and use it in their everyday lives just like how it makes a difference in my life. I want everyone to learn about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. – Kimsru, Dream Project Officer
In a nutshell, the 7 Habits are as follows:
Image credit: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Personal effectiveness
1. Be proactive – You are in control
2. Begin with the end in mind – Decide on what is truly important to you
3. Put first things first – How to manage your time
Interpersonal effectiveness
4. Think win-win – Strive for mutually beneficial solutions in relationships
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood – Listen and empathize
6. Synergize – Celebrate differences
Continuous improvement
7. Sharpen the saw – Renew body, mind, heart, and soul
The habits build on one another. One must first learn how to manage the self before he can build strong relationships with others. Once effectiveness is achieved in both the private and public realm, the individual then works on continually improving himself.
Through the training I had learned a lot. Now I can identify means goals and end goals, listen effectively, and understand the importance of synergy. The training helped me to discover who I am and how I should improve to make my life better. I love all the question and exercise in the training, I will use all those questions to myself when I am getting stress or trouble. Moreover, I will bring what I learn to share with my students too. – Lida, Youth Empowerment Project Coordinator
As a trainer, I was ecstatic to see that the Seven Habits have been embraced by PEPY staff and that this knowledge will be passed on to their students. I am reminded of a quote by our friends over at Learning Service:
Global development and personal development go hand in hand. Learning, broadening our perspectives, challenging our assumptions, being nice to people around us, and setting personal goals, in themselves are as much a service to the world as a service project is.
When we work on bettering ourselves, we inevitably better the world around us.
