Have you adopted the 8th habit?

Steven Covey's new book is subtitled "From Effectiveness to Greatness."
It's much more abstract than the very pragmatic original "7 Habits," but Covey believes that simply being effective is no longer enough.

Of course, you need to...
1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to understand, and then to be understood
6. Synergize (seeking out people who are different from you in order to learn from them and benefit from their strengths, and together make beautiful music together)
7. Sharpen your saw (engage in personal renewal

(the original 7) .. but Covey submits that the key to greatness, engagement and fulfillment is finding and exercizing your VOICE.

.. which lives at the intersection of

1. Your natural gifts and strengths(talent)
2. The things which naturally energize, motivate and inspire you (passion)
3. The things the world is willing to pay you for (needs)
4. Your still, small inner voice that tells you what is right (conscience)

He quotes Gandhi to make his point clear: "..the difference between what we are doing and what we are capable of doing would solve most of the world's problems."

Finally, once you find your voice, Covey feels it's a part of being more effective to help your audience do so as well. This, he says, is LEADERSHIP.

Is your morning show effective? Does it have a voice? What are you doing to share that passion and be a leader in improving the world around you? Does listening to you on the radio make your listener feel better about him/herself and find meaning in their life?

Yes, a tall order. But, as I read Covey's book I understood an important aspect of what makes Paul Harvey, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Moore, Dr's Ruth and Laura, et al, as successful as they are.

Read it with your team and talk about it together. I think it will make you better too.