Public Victory By Interdependence
With the first 3 habits, we became effective individuals. The next 3 guides us to become effective team players.
“You can’t be successful with other people if you haven’t paid the price of success with yourself”– Stephen Covey
Quick Recap:
Habit 4 Think Win Win : Setting the Right Motive – “I want to win, but I want you to win too! Let’s win it together”
Habit 5 Be Understanding Then Be Understood: Establishing Good Connection – “I will take the initiative to understand your perspective first so that I can communicate with you better. Please understand where I am coming from in return.”
Habit 6 Synergize: Team Excellence – Working together for greater results.
When we are in an environment with other people, we have to understand the fact that nobody likes to lose. And to win is a desired result for everyone, even for those who don’t make any effort. So with this basic human nature in mind, we can have a common goal with one another – Helping each other to win.
Habit 5 works based on the Rule of Reciprocity (Social Psychology), so in order for it to work, one party must gain certain values first to make them feel obligated to return the favor. In our case, this favor is understanding – Understand them first so that they will return you an opportunity to be understood.
“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”
So in order to win, we have to understand what the other party want to win first? If you are helped him or her to win something that they don’t want, do you think they will be happy or very willingly to help you back? I highly doubt so.
Habit 5 also focus on building good communication channels with the solid foundation of understanding and trust – Trusting that we will look out for one another and striving for WIN WIN.
In this era, where no man is an island, most people are not self-sustainable. Almost everyone is part of a system in the creation of service or product. We created a world that is so modern with advanced technology which no one person can create.
Example: the monitor screen that you are looking at right now is make possible by a series of people and activities. From retailers, to distributors, to marketers, to manufacturers, to raw materials gathers, to designers. Them alone, would not be able to build you the monitor or build as many set as they are producing right now in a chain of processes.
People comes from all walks of life, with different upbringing (conditioning) resulting in different thought patterns (mental models). It may be problematic for them to get along, thus the first lesson to the start of great teamwork is understanding the possibilities of potential differences and handling them.
Even if you can understand each other, it doesn’t mean you will be the best of friends but at the very least, you all shall be professional in your interactions.
“There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity”– Samuel Johnson
Team Up For Faster & Greater Success
Team up with people who can
- Inspire & Motivate You
- Compliment Your Strengths
- Cover Your Weakness
- Share The Workload
Next we will move on to the last Habit: Sharpen The Saw
But before that, share with us what are the qualities of ideal teammates or partners you are looking for?