» Programs • Personal Planning & Leadership
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
- Viktor Frankl
At EBS we work to nurture leadership and personal planning skills for the students using the framework of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People, which is currently being used successfully in schools throughout the world. The habits, as outlined in the book by Stephen Covey, are:
Start with yourself:
- Be proactive. (You are in charge of your actions) - This habit gets us thinking ahead about what needs to be done without always depending on others for direction.
- Begin with the end in mind. (Have a plan) - This habit gets us thinking about what we wish to accomplish. It helps us to start making goals and working toward them.
- Put first things first. (Important things first, then play) - Funny how it's sometimes easy to spend more time avoiding a task than it takes to just do it! This is a tough habit, but well worth learning at an early age.
- Think win-win. (Everyone can win) - Life's not just about me, or you, it's about both of us. When we teach our kids to think win-win, they start to approach all situations with a more global perspective.
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood. (Listen before you talk) - How many times do we approach a difference with someone by thinking, "if they would just let me explain my point of view, they would surely realize that I'm right!" This habit helps to learn empathic listening so that we understand not just what the other person's ideas are, but also why they are feeling that way.
- Synergize. (Together is better) - This team-work habit helps us to accomplish more by working together and using each person's individual strengths to accomplish more than each one of us can alone.
- Sharpen the saw. (Balance feels best) - Too much of anything - work, reading, time on the computer - makes us feel out of balance. This habit reminds us to refresh our minds, bodies and souls. It helps us to be well-rounded, healthy people.