This is a new online series featuring books that Pat Jones and others suggest every superintendent should read. Have a recommendation? Send it to pjones@gie.net.
Golf course superintendents are among the more capable and productive problem solvers you’ll ever find. But that doesn’t mean you can’t become more effective in your workday and in your home life by remembering a few simple principles first espoused by the legendary Stephen Coven in his 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Why is it a must-read? First, because it’s the source of many common business axioms you’ll hear your members and owners say. “First things first” and “sharpen the saw” both originate in Covey’s book. And second, because it gives you a paradigm for time management that could literally change your life.
Here’s my summary of Covey’s habits in a nutshell:
Habit 1: Be Proactive. Act to improve your life rather than reacting to hold your ground.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. I use this term a lot to help people understand how to write a good article or speech. What do you want the reader or listener to take away from your words? For Covey, it’s a challenge to develop a mission-statement based on principles and to use that as a way to set goals for yourself.
Habit 3: Put First Things First. If you don’t prioritize, you’ll never be fully effective. The first things first concept is the basis for one of the better time management systems ever developed. This chapter alone makes it worth reading the book.
Habit 4: Think Win/Win. Seek agreements and relationships that are mutually beneficial. Be sure to reward win/win behavior among employees and avoid inadvertently rewarding win/lose behavior.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. It’s all about effective listening, which is not simply echoing what the other person. Instead, it’s listening empathically for both feeling and meaning.
Habit 6: Synergize. I know, horrible word but a good concept. Covey suggests finding ways to leverage individual differences to create a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. Covey’s famed call for continual self-education. Quite simply, take time to build yourself physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and spiritually.
What you’ll get out of it: You’ll be a better leader, a better time manager and you’ll speak a common language that most businesspeople understand.
Got a non-turf book you want to suggest for the book club? E-mail me at pjones@gie.net.