Barack Obama: The First 7 Habits President?

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a self-help book written by Dr. Stephen Covey in 1989. I was fortunate enough to take a 7 Habits workshop at a previous employer. For people that aren't familiar with the 7 Habits, check out the FranklinCovey website for more information.

How do the 7 Habits relate to Barack Obama? I started thinking about this during the campaign as I watched how he fended off both the Clinton machine and the Republican party. Here are some quick bullet points on what I've seen and what I think:

1. Habit 1: Be Proactive - The use of 'proactive' here is as opposed to 'reactive'. The was evident when he made his speech about race after the barrage of Rev. Wright clips making their way around the media.
2. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind - The campaign talked about how focused they were by establishing their message and strategy up front and following through. Where the Clinton campaign constantly changed their message, the Obama campaign established their message and adapted their tactics to the situations that came up.
3. Habit 3: Put First Things First - Obama has focused on the economy first and foremost. Although there are other issues and problems in the world, it seems the economy has been put on the front burner because resolving that issue will lead to the betterment of other problems.
4. Habit 4: Think Win/Win - Obama's focus on bipartisanship has shown how he seeks to seek a Win for everyone involved, not just the Democratic side at the expense of Republicans, which is the way politics has been played in the past.
5. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood - The President's leg work in reaching out to Republicans, even visiting with them at the Capitol shows this habit. A profile that one of the cable news stations did about him (I don't recall which one) mentioned how as president of the Harvard Law Review, he would make conservatives members that he vehemently disagreed with feel as though he heard their point of view even though he did not share their opinions.
6. Habit 6: Synergize - This habit is all about the sum being greater than the individual parts. His selection of former rivals Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, as well as other key figures that were not always ardent supporters shows how he values differences and collaboration.
7. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw - Aside from his Hawai'i vacation prior to the inauguration, he has shown that he takes time off to focus on things that matter to him personally, like taking his daughters to school.

These are just things I've seen and noticed about his habits as a candidate and president. Let's see if this holds in the future.