1.5 - About University

15.5H ABITS: THE G OOD AND B AD N EWST HAT L EADERS N EED TO K NOWInspired by Stephen Covey, Daniel Goleman, and Earnie Larson.Your head tells you to check Consumer Reports when thinking of buying a new car. Your heartwants the Lexus, Corvette, or Land Rover. People fool themselves when they claim to act logically,based purely on reason and thinking. We are persuaded by reason, but we are moved toact by emotion. In our “business at the speed of light” world, most often our decisions andactions are habitual, based on feelings. Advertisers know this. They sell the sizzle and not thesteak. They sell soft drinks with music that helps people feel young and alive. They advertisecars by implying power, status, or sex appeal. This tool will help you understand how people,leaders included, make decisions. Mechanisms for more conscious decision making are suggested,along with strategies for changing deeply ingrained habits of thinking and acting.W HERE DO HABITS COME FROM?Forgotten and buried deep within us is something that started as an emotional need long ago,perhaps even in childhood. That something might have been an idea, a way of behaving, or anecessary defense or self-protection mechanism. Whatever form it took, this something eventuallybecame integrated with our beliefs—what we accept as true. Our beliefs become part ofour core, part of who we are. This human needs–beliefs base is firmly established before thinking—ourrationalization for action—enters the picture. Our thinking is then filtered throughour feelings to produce decisions for action. The customary wayin which we think (as influenced by our feelings) and then act isThinkingHabitsActingFeelingcalled a habit. Changing a habit involves a combination ofthinking, feeling, and acting.Your habits are unconsciously based on your emotions orfeelings. Most of your behavior as a leader—how you decidethings, how you work with others—is based upon habit. Thismay sound surprising, yet leadership actions must be based onhabits. You couldn’t possibly think through every situation,starting from first principles. Good habits form the basis of efficiencyand effectiveness. As conditions change around us, however,some of our once-useful habits become limitations. For example, learning that youcouldn’t count on others may have been useful when you were working in a dysfunctionalorganization, but now that you’re a leader in a highly functional and team-based organization,this habit has become a considerable limitation to your success as a leader.C HANGING HABITSTo change a habit, first you need to surface and evaluate the habit. Thus, a prerequisite tochanging a habit is to first recognize and own up to the dysfunctional habit. Since habits haveSECTION 15 TOOLS FOR TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF 467