Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the 7 Habits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Michael Love says Covey’s 7 Habits build individual character that enables team leadership
Summary
Michael Love (Department of Children and Family Services) told the Leadership Academy that Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits focuses on character building—proactivity, vision, prioritization and synergy—and that those personal practices enable interdependent leadership in teams across government.
Michael Love, an employee with the Department of Children and Family Services, framed Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as a character-first roadmap for leaders who want to move from dependence to interdependence.
Love listed the habits—being proactive; beginning with the end in mind; putting first things first; thinking win-win; seeking first to understand, then to be understood; synergizing; and sharpening the saw—and said they work together to build individuals who can then lead collaborative teams. “Interdependence is where all leadership takes place,” he said.
Why it matters: Love emphasized authenticity, saying soft skills must be genuine to be effective and that habit practice changes how leaders react and make decisions. He described the 7 habits as enduring: he said they shaped his behavior over decades and remain relevant to public-sector leadership.
Application to government: Love and other panelists discussed adapting individual habits to team settings by role modeling, using performance evaluations to track progress and encouraging leaders to develop patience and repeat clear messages. He recommended viewing leadership as role-related behavior rather than a job title.
The session closed with resources and training referrals from State Civil Service and CPTP for leaders seeking hands-on ways to apply the habits in public agencies.
