How to achieving greatness in a turbulent world

Jakob Oetama, Jakarta

Dr. Stephen R. Covey has established his public persona as a leadership guru, a family expert, teacher, author and organizational consultant. This article welcomes to him a national seminar to be held at the Jakarta Convention Center on Wednesday.

The world has come to know Covey through his international bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Many people see Covey as a living manifestation of the seven habits. Millions of people around the world, both personally and professionally, have learned to become more effective people by incorporating these habits into their lives.

The seven habits are:

1. Be Proactive. Don't wait or be reactive -- take the initiative.

2. Begin with the End in Mind. Don't be distracted by small matters and forget the big picture.

3. Put First Things First. Don't be reactive and always be acting to "put out fires". Define your plans, prioritize important things and give them your time and energy. Covey also wrote a book First Things First.

4. Think Win-Win. To maintain long-term cooperation and success, all forms of relations should be based on the principle of mutual benefit.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood. The gist is to listen with empathy in order to leave subjectivity and act objectively. In communication, it means identifying, being critical of and discarding one's personal prejudices.

6. Synergize. Instead of being antagonistic, relations should be cooperative in nature, as a team, where one plus one can equal four, 10, or 100.

7. Sharpen the Saw. To learn continuously, make time to read and reflect, be open to all kinds of new developments.

The world keeps changing, and all sorts of new challenges continue to emerge. Being effective is increasingly considered a basic requirement for modern life. However, it turns out that being effective alone is not enough. Humans have a greater calling. And to achieve this, Covey has published his newest book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. He urges us to start paying attention to the needs of the people around us, to go beyond effectiveness and achieve greatness.

The key words in answering these new challenges are: To find and work out our calling, then to inspire others to find and work out theirs. Or, in Covey's words, to find our "Voice" and inspire others to find theirs.

Based on his premise that we have the freedom to choose, Covey asserts that leadership is a choice. Whether holding a structural position or not, we can choose to be a leader, by utilizing our competence to choose matters and manners that are in accord with universal principles.

To that end, the call to "inspire others to find their voice" can be accomplished by performing the four roles of leadership.

The first role is "Modeling". Anyone who has successfully internalized the seven habits of highly effective people can be a great role model.

The second role is "Pathfinding", in the sense of creating a vision that directs the course of one's life. It begins with an individual but spreads to helping others find their callings.

The third role is "Aligning" and this role is vital in an organizational context. Coordination is needed to harmonize organizational systems and structures with the vision. This role can be actualized starting from oneself either in a formal or informal environment, since it not only applies in the professional context but also in families and communities.

The fourth role is "Empowering", that is assisting others to achieve their potential.

In the context of Indonesia with its present turbulence, these four roles of leadership are highly relevant. At the state management level, we have a national leader who has been directly voted in by the people. Bapak President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has powerful charisma and legitimacy. But there is a pragmatic dilemma as well: How to fill the formal leadership structure with conscientious professionals who can assert their integrity and embody the four roles -- Modeling, Pathfinding, Aligning, Empowering -- effective.

In managing organizations as well as states, charisma needs structures and systems that can translate visions. A charismatic leader usually can, with ease, mobilize visions, but he or she needs structures and systems to harmonize affairs at the implementation level.

Continuing on matters of the state, an important role can also be taken by a business world that is more committed to social corporate responsibility.

Its basic value is a philosophy that has been taught by every great religion and tradition -- that is, by its nature, private property has a social dimension.

On a smaller scale, the four roles start from our own "circle of influence". In a nutshell, this is done by actualizing our calling and inspiring others to achieve theirs.

We all have the resources for that. Covey states the various gifts given to us at birth. They are:

o Freedom to Choose

o Universal Natural Laws or Principles

o Four Intelligences: Physical/PQ, Mental/IQ, Emotional/EQ, Spiritual/SQ

Our effectiveness, success and greatness depend on the utilization of these inborn gifts. In the process, if we subjugate the first three intelligences to the last one, which is often called "conscience", we will live meaningfully and in greatness.

In these turbulent times, Covey gives us the great hope that we can stand tall and strong amid all kinds of environmental influences. He tells us not to be carried away by the existing negatives. With his ideas, we can rise as a great nation if we go deep inside ourselves and utilize the potential we have had since birth.

The writer is the chairman of Kompas-Gramedia Group.