Background
- 7 Habits participant: Lou Reddy – Principal, Maraetai Beach Primary School
Sudima Auckland CBD, April 2023
Lou Reddy knew he was fortunate to have an amazing job as Principal of Wesley Primary. He was proud of what he had set up there, and really loved working with his team, but with a 2.5 hour daily commute and a young family of his own, he also knew that he wanted to reprioritise his life; he was just unsure how he could make those changes.
Lou was appointed to his second senior leadership position as an Acting Principal during the lockdown in 2020 at Tamaki Primary School; while he was well supported in the role, Lou had a very quick induction and overall, it was not a great way to learn the ropes due to the lockdowns.
After July 2020, he was appointed as principal of Wesley Primary, where the Leadership Team had been through lots of change. They had started building a new school, there had been lots of staff changes and of course, transitioning into senior leadership during the pandemic was a real challenge. Lou had heard of Stephen Covey and thought the 7 Habits approach was worth exploring. As it turned out, he found the course catalytic.
Sharing insights with others
While Lou attended on his own, the opportunity to spend two days immersed in an environment where there were other principals and senior leaders in attendance, and hearing stories of how people grapple with similar issues but within their own context and settings gave great insight.
It was great to stop and think “What am I doing and where does it lead to for me?” And it was only when I stopped and looked that I saw how far the percentages were “out of whack” in terms of my own hauora and work/ life balance.
I realised that it was the first time I had talked about some issues in a professional context.
Something that Lou found significantly different from other leadership courses he’s attended was the level of depth and understanding that he gained from the 7 Habits. He really appreciated how the material goes beyond personality, focuses “on your own stuff” and gets right to your core vs other leadership programmes that tend to focus on other people and superficial issues.
He also appreciated the supporting literature and resources, and the way that Rob facilitated the course. Having been a school leader himself, he was able to create a space where it was possible to be vulnerable and share in a safe way.
Ongoing benefits
Since attending the workshop, over the course of the following year, Lou looked at a lot of different things through the 7 Habits’ lens and doing so has had a profound impact on his life.
Habit 1 (Be Proactive skill 1: pause and respond based on principles and desired results)
He continues to think about this approach which he was aware of before, but now he can see how this is interconnected to all the other Habits. They all come together.
I am now more creative about when I get paperwork done, am growing my leadership team and have learnt how to respond better and delegate more.
Habit 2 Keeping the End in Mind is what grounds him.
Lou now keeps his focus on the personal mission statement that he developed during the course. This has evolved over time, and he has elaborated on it further, but it was the starting point for change. He loves that he can take this to other spaces and thinks about it daily, especially when times are tough. It keeps him grounded based on a clear mission statement to be a caring and loving father, who serves his family and community through manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga.
On Day Two Lou discovered the Big Rocks in his life and the principle of putting first things first.
Lou realised that his life was in huge imbalance as he was spending 80% of his time on work or community. Working for years as a DP and three years of principalship, he didn’t see his family for much of the evenings and weekends, and it had a dramatic impact on his life. Whether or not he was visiting his elderly mum depended on his school timetable and whether he was able to be supportive partner in raising his two children
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Lou talked to work colleagues and had a frank conversation with the Board presiding member who was very supportive and said “Yes, put family first.” He was able to change the way he worked, and he got to see his mum every week, specially when she was unwell.
Currently working on Habit 7, Sharpening the Saw which he measured as his weakest. Lou is exercising, has been to a Naturopath, seen the doctor and is the lightest (weight) he has been in 10 years. It’s been a real boost, as this also has a positive impact on his immune system and energy levels while being an active parent.
Thinking back to Habit One, Be Proactive.
Lou had been proactive at work, but not so much at home. Although he loved his job at Wesley, he knew he wanted to be with his family and his community. He knew he had to find a win-win and change jobs to make this happen.
Adopting Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Stephen Covey talks about the ‘Private’ and the ‘Public Victory’. What do people see you doing? Where are the wins? As Lou says, being a principal is a very public-facing role and he knows that sometimes when you’re in a busy job it’s all too often easier to go win-lose… To jump to a Public Victory (actually not possible to achieve), is shallow and often means those we love the most lose time with us.
Principals rarely have enough time to stop and think, and to work on themselves, and Lou recognised that at times in the past he had just gone along with things, being reactive to crisis, new build and staffing issues, “I was reactive as!”
For example, if there were staff changes at school, it was only in hindsight that he could see that perhaps he’d made a hire “just to put another body in the room.” By participating in the workshop and doing the subsequent reflection, he can now see where he is/was stuck.
Lou now stops and listens to understand. He’s listening better to his wife, his colleagues and his community.
He is now starting to work on the public victory as well as the private victory.
I would love my Senior Leadership Team to do the 7 Habits programme.
Following on from Lou attending 7 Habits, he used the reflection cards with his Senior Leadership Team which he found very useful as a practical development tool they could continue to refer back to. Rob also introduced some new tools and techniques, including using the coaching and team development work in the book Crucial Conversations. Lou saw some real synergy in what they were doing already and he bought each of them a copy.
The benefits of 7 Habits in his own words
People have seen a definite shift in me. They can also tell when I have not been reflecting on my habits and mission statement.
I have experienced amazing outcomes in both my professional and personal life. I have been able to set things up in a way that works. I have set a goal of being home by 5:30pm and am able to put my children to bed and be involved in family life.
My wife has noticed a profound change in how I operate. I’m not perfect, but I know I’m moving towards where I’d like to be every day. She can tell when I’m reflecting and thinking 7 Habits and when I’m not.
I now spend time on the things that matter most to me, which is my family, and have learnt how I can be empowered to affect change in my own life. In education as a principal, this is necessary to sustain our leadership long term.
Prior to the course, I lacked self-belief to be proactive in all aspects of my life. But then, when I was looking at different schools for my son, two things happened as we enrolled him at Maraetai Beach School. The job as Principal at Maraetai Beach Primary came up, (perfect for my family circumstances) but I lacked the confidence to put my “win” at the top of my list and go for it.
Shifting my perspective
But then I started to shift my perspective. I was looking at the school as a parent, but with the 7 Habits lens, and it got me thinking about how I deliver education for everyone. This flowed through my decision to apply for the job, and I decided to speak about how the 7 Habits influence how I relate to people and how I lead, how I try to help others too, with being effective.
The barrier to coming into a 7 Habits programme or course is that taking two days out of a busy schedule and finding time to do the follow up takes time.
However, had I known seven years ago that I could have the tools and awareness that I have now as a principal, I know that I would have coped better with some health and personal issues – maybe not have had to struggle as hard too.
I would encourage anyone thinking about leading others to invest in yourself. It will have a profound impact on your family and colleagues as well as yourself. I have chipped away at the different literature and resources afterwards and would say that even if all you do is pick one Habit to focus on for a year, it will positively impact every aspect of your life.
Rob delivers the workshops with the insight and experience as a school leader, so has a great way of helping you understand the content in context.
I listen to the audio-book sometimes on the way to work, and I keep reflecting and thinking about the content of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It’s a slow burn change (“a price has to be paid”) that lots of people seemingly want to avoid as they expect things to change instantly.
Personally, I have honed in on sections of the resource ie. Keeping the End in Mind and Putting First Things First because everything is interconnected.
I try hard to live the habits and use the habits, because I know with time and effort, I will see the change and have got to that end goal of my life’s mission statement.
I know that cost can be a perceived barrier, but the real cost for people is often the change. Do you really want to experience deep, meaningful change, to take control of your life and be empowered as a leader? Then get into the book and do the course.
