Covey's the 8th Habit--Chapters 4 & 5

Part 1: Find Your Voice

Chapter 4

This chapter is about what Dr. Covey calls our “birth gifts.” Our three most important birth gifts are:
1) our freedom and power to choose
2) natural laws and principles
3) our four intelligences/capacities


Our power to choose

Probably the most oft-repeated theme with Covey is our power to make choices and create our future. On page 42 he says, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.”


Natural laws or principles

Dr. Covey explains that principles are 1) universal, 2) timeless, 3) inarguable. I happen to strongly agree with him that there are in fact universal and timeless principles that exist and govern the consequences of our choices. The challenge then, is to recognize principles and align our lives with them.

Our four intelligences/capacities

Covey explains that our four intelligences are:
1) mental intelligence
2) physical intelligence
3) emotional intelligence
4) spiritual intelligence



Chapter 5

Covey explains that all great achievers have simply greatly expanded their four natives human intelligences and that the highest manifestations our vision, discipline, passion, conscience related to the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual intelligences respectively.

Vision is the idea that all things are created twice: first, mentally; second, physically. Dr. Covey likens this to a blueprint of the house or musical notes in a score just waiting to be played, which I found to be a very effective analogy.

Discipline is making the vision reality – the execution and making it all happen.

Passion is sort of the “fire within.” It is the excitement, the drive, the determination, and emotional connection to our life’s work.

Conscience is really the glue that holds all of the intelligences and manifestations of those intelligences together. “It is the moral law within.”




“Voice” lies at the nexus of talent, need, passion, conscience. I really like the four questions he suggests on page 86.
1) What need do I sense (in my family, and my community, in the organization I work for)?
2) Do I possess a true talent that, if disciplined and applied, can meet the need?
3) Does the opportunity to meet that need tap into my passion?
4) Does my conscience inspire me to take action and become involved?

Covey's The 8th Habit--Chapters 1-3

Watch my Video Blog Post about this

I am currently reading Dr. Stephen R Covey’s book The 8^th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. In the third chapter he suggests that we teach and share as we go. That interested me because that’s the primary purpose of this blog, to teach and share what I learn as I go.

In this first post I would like to summarize the first three chapters. Chapter 1, “The Pain”, Chapter 2, “The Problem”, Chapter 3 “The solution.”

Chapter 1, “The Pain”

I think this chapter can be summarized by a question Dr. Covey would often ask his audiences. He would ask his large audiences “How many agree that the vast majority of the workforce in your organization possesses far more talent, intelligence, capability and creativity than their present jobs require or even allow?” He then goes on to give some facts and figures that can be best be summarized with the following quotation: “If, say, a soccer team had these same scores, only four of the 11 players on the field would know which goal is there’s. Only two of the 11 would care. Only two of the 11 would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. And all but two players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.”

Dr. Covey then goes on to explain what voice is. Voice is, “unique personal significance… Lies at the nexus of talent, passion, need, conscience.”

Chapter 2, “The Problem”

This chapter is fairly simple. The basic idea is that we’ve inherited business and managerial tactics from the industrial age where we tend to manage people as things while neglecting the whole person. Dr. Covey argues that we need to view people as multidimensional wherein we have for components represented by the mind the heart the spirit and the body which represent our basic needs as individuals. The most thought-provoking idea for me came on page 22 where Covey talks about organizations inspiring their people to “volunteer their highest talents and contributions.”

Chapter 3, “The Solution”

In this chapter Covey invites us to 1) find our voice, and 2) inspire others to find their voice. In my mind voice is that which truly inspires us and pushes us to volunteer our best efforts and to use our highest talents to make the greatest contribution. And that, I presume, is what the rest of the book is about.

The Wall Street Journal Promotion

Call me old school but I'm a sucker for getting the good ol' fashioned news paper delivered to my doorstep, especially the Wall Street Journal. I also love having access to all the online content in English and Spanish...I've been using it to advance my studies in Spanish.

I read the Journal daily and in future posts I'll likely share insights I gather from my readings.

They have a deal right now where you get 3 months of print and online access for $25. So, for about the price of a book, you get the print version six days a week, plus 24/7 access to the online content in multiple languages. Just wanted to pass this on.

Also, if you happen to buy the 3-month deal, I get a $25 Amazon.com gift card :)

Here's the link:  http://refer.wsj.com/a/clk/1nwZrs    

Español:

Puede que soy viejito pero me encanta recibir el periódico, especialmente The Wall Street Journal. Lo hallo muy interesante y útil ya que me dan acceso al contenido de su sitio web en inglés y español (hay otros idiomas también).

Leo The Journal a diario y en el futuro compartiré ideas que encuentro de mi lectura.

Tienen una promoción de tres meses por $25. Recibe la versión tradicional los 6 días de la semana en casa y acceso al contenido del sitio web las 24 horas en varios idiomas. Nada más quería mencionar la promoción por si acaso es fanático del Journal como yo lo soy.

Además, si se inscribe me dan una tarjeta para amazon.com :)

Aquí es el enlace: http://refer.wsj.com/a/clk/1nwZrs

Riesgo de Inversión: Escoja Su Riesgo

Al hablar con inversionistas, a menudo me declaran que quieren una inversión sin riesgo. Sin embargo, no existe inversión sin riesgo (pero sí hay algunas inversiones que se aproximan inversión sin riesgo, y quizás trataremos eso en otra sesión).


Hablemos entonces de riesgos en términos generales.


1. Riesgo de Inflación/Poder de Adquisitivo
1. La inflación efectua los resultados de una empresa ya que tienen que batallar contra las fuerzas de la inflación
2. Afecta el poder adquisitivo de sus ganancias (por ejemplo, ya que el costo de los bienes y servicios aumenta, las ganancias reales van a ser menos de las ganancias nominales).
2. Riesgo de Interés
1. Riesgo de Precio—al cambiar las tasas de interés, cambia la valuación de sus inversiones.
2. Riesgo de Tasa de Reinversión—en un momento futuro cuando se pague el interés o el principal las tasas de interés pueden ser diferentes.
3. Riesgo de Negocio (riesgo asistemático)—afectan su inversión factores que afectan la empresa misma. Se puede reducir o eliminar este riesgo por medio de la diversificación.
4. Riesgo de Finanza—el grado que una empresa usa deuda para financiar sus operaciones aumenta la variabilidad del rendimiento.
5.  Riesgo de Incumplimiento—la impresa en la cual ha invertido puede fallar en sus obligaciones.
6. Riesgo de Liquidez—el tiempo que lleva a convertir su activo en efectivo sin reducir el precio.
7. Riesgo de Comerciabilidad—la facilidad de vender el activo por su precio al mercado.
8. Riesgo Político—las guerras, disputas laborales, inestabilidad política ponen a riesgo su inversión.
9. Riesgo Soberano—el riesgo de que el gobierno en que ha invertido falla de pagar como lo prometió. Parecido al riesgo de incumplimiento.
10. Riesgo de Tipo de Cambio—al cambiar el tipo de cambio entre las monedas puede afectar su inversión.
11. Riesgo de los Impuestos—las leyes que rigen los impuestos cambian a menudo que también pone a riesgo sus inversiones.
12. Riesgo de Gerente de Inversiones—aplica si su inversión está en manos de alguien que hace decisiones por usted, ya sea un fondo mutual de inversión u otro tipo de inversión así.
13. Riesgo de Añadir—hay inversiones que requieren un compromiso de más inversiones en el futuro, que sería en sí un riesgo.
14. Riesgo Físico—aplica a inversiones que tiene a mano, como por ejemplo, si tiene los certificados de las acciones en mano, efectivo, oro físico en su posesión, etc. que se pueden perder, dañar, o robar.


Puntos sobresalientes
1. No hay inversión libre de riesgo el cien por ciento.
2. Al invertir hay que entender los riesgos y manejarlos de forma prudente.


Práctica: revise sus inversiones, dondequiera que se encuentren, y analice a cuales riesgos están sujetos. 

Investment Risk: Pick Your Poison

In talking with investors, often I hear the response, “I don’t wanna take any risk.” However, what they sometimes overlook is that there’s really no such thing as a “risk-free” investment (although there are some things that come pretty close that act as proxy, which we may talk about another time).

So let’s talk about risk in general terms.

1. Inflation/Purchasing Power Risk
1. Inflation can impact the performance of the actual businesses we invest in as they have to battle inflationary forces.
2. Impacts the purchasing power of your return (i.e. costs of goods of services increase, after-inflation (“real”) rate of return will be less than your nominal return).
2. Interest Risk
1. Price Risk—when interests change, the assessed value of investments change.
2. Reinvestment Rate Risk—the principal or interest paid out in the future, interest rates could be different.
3. Business Risk (unsystematic risk)—your investment could be affected by the individual business you invest in. This risk can normally be diversified away.
4. Financial Risk—the more debt a business uses to finance its operations, the greater the variability in the returns, putting your investment at greater risk.
5. Default Risk—the company you invest in could default on its obligations to pay you, the investor.
6. Liquidity Risk—how quickly you can convert an asset to cash with little or no price concession.
7. Marketability Risk—ease of selling an asset for its fair market value.
8. Political—political instability, wars, trade disputes, etc. can put your investment at risk.
9. Sovereign Risk—the risk a government may not make good on its promises to pay investors as promised (similar to default risk).
10. Exchange Rate Risk—fluctuating currency exchange rates could put your investment at risk.
11. Tax Risk—the ever-changing tax landscape will always pose some risk to your investments
12. Investment Manager Risk—applicable mostly to managed investments like mutual funds. The money manager potentially adds an additional element of risk.
13. Additional Commitment Risk—what happens if your investment requires additional commitment.
14. Physical—I put this on here as it applies to physical possession of investments, like cash on hand, physical stock certificates, physical gold, etc. that those investments could be lost, stolen or damaged.

Key take-aways:

1. No investment is really without risk
2. Investing is about understanding the risks and managing them wisely

Action: take a look at your holdings and see what risks each might be subject to.

This will be a forum for me to develop my communication skills as well as to sharpen my skills in Financial Planning, Business, and Translation and Languages. The plan is to start this month in a video blog format.