The Public Victory

The Public Victory focuses on chapter 4,5, and 6; Think Win-Win, Seek first to understand, then to be understood, and Synergize. So far in the book, I have found the habits extremely helpful. Whenever I seem to second guess myself, or pause slightly before a decision, thinking of these habits help. That extra pause can decide the difference between success and failure. It is essential to try and plan ahead, try your best to have knowledge and reasons behind your decision.

Habit 4 : Think Win-Win

“Think Win-Win is an attitude toward life, a mental frame of mind that says I can win, and so can you. It’s not me or you, it’s both of us.” (Sean Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens) What Covey is telling us here, is that you can’t just be dismissive of other people and have what you want all the time. I think what this means is that we all need to have the attitude and mental capability to keep up, and make sure all the boxes are being ticked. We need to be open to other peoples ideas, and make sure everyone feels heard, including you. Thinking Win-Win is the foundation for getting along with other people. 

Another example that will stay with me is the tumour twins, who are competition and comparison. You definitely cant think win-win if you are always focused on competing and comparing yourself to others. It’s very easy to get caught up in this, I have been myself, but then I reel myself back in and remind myself and others around me, each person is different, be yourself, and think win-win! 

One way I used win-win thinking was when I was negotiating with Charlie, my brother. He outgrew his skis and I really wanted them, they were the perfect size, beautiful colours and they were pretty new as well. Charlie just bought some new skis for himself and he wanted to sell his old ones. The price was $400, $200 out of my price range. So I got to work, trying day in day out to get him to change his price. After talking to him for a while and saying all the positive points I could think of in my head, I got him to lower the price by $100. So now we were $100 out of my price range. I knew I still couldn’t buy those, they were still too expensive, so I offered to do his chores until Christmas. That was a big offer, and we both knew it. I half regretted it the moment the words came out of my mouth, but I am so glad I worked all summer to make the money to pay Charlie.  

Habit 5 : Seek first to understand, then to be understood

“Before I can walk in another’s shoes, I must remove my own.” (Unknown) Seek first to understand, then to be understood means you need to listen first, talk second. My mom used to tell me that the some of the smartest people in the room speak last. This means you hear other peoples ideas, take them in and help form one big idea with everybody’s small ideas contributing. A good example is when I was applying for PLP, and I was creating my entry video. I researched about soccer and women in the sport with the inequality between men’s and women’s soccer. The men get paid an exceptional amount more, even though women are at the same level just a different gender. When I was looking into this, I saw that the leader of the meeting always always spoke last, because she took everything in and then when it was her turn she had a solution for some problems, and she had formulated an idea that sounded incredible to everyone in the room, but really it came down to her listening instead of talking the whole time.

Somewhere I used this habit was during the winter exhibition. I had a group of friends. Awesome, not awesome. It took some work to get on track, but at the same time we all knew each others learning style so it was quick to get going. I found a good coping method was listening to everyone else, then speaking last or 2nd last because then nobody would interrupt and it would really help our group come to a better solution. 

Empathy has a lot to do with this habit. Being in another persons shoes, and seeing the world and problems from another point of view.

Habit 6 : Synergize

Synergy is when two or more people work together to create a better solution than either could do alone. To create, and build synergy, you have to look for it. You need to see and realize each person is unique and should value who they are and their personality.

On my soccer team, each and every person has a unique strength that contributes to our overall skill as a team. When each person brings that skill they have we all bond together to have a successful team. The result we have as a team is much better than an one teammate could do alone. This is a very good example of Synergy, because 2 or more people are coming together to bring out a result better than 1 person could have done. 

What does taking the highway mean? It means to find a better solution than lose-win, win-lose, or lose-lose. An example Sean Covey used in his book was about geese! If the lead goose gets tired, it will rotate to the back and rest until its ready again, the geese in the back will honk encouragement to the front, if one gets sick or hurt, 2 other geese will accompany it to the ground and wait for it to either die or get better, then return with the pack. This is an incredible example of synergy, and taking the ‘high’ way. A group of geese working together flying through the sky to generate a better outcome than any goose could do alone. It’s not one or another’s way, but a better, ‘higher’ way. The ‘high’ way is finding the best solution.

YouTube Short 2

Tyler and I are together once again for Youtube Short number 2. This one is focused on habits 4,5, and 6 just like this post! I will post it shortly, stay tuned for football players, Julia and Tyler! 

Reflection

This time around I felt like I connected more with this chapter. These habits 4,5, and 6 have really opened my eyes about how I can move on forward with my life. Each one is valuable, and I hope that everyone out there has a chance to learn about them, because really, they are life changing!