A Highly Effective Habit

In Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, one of the habits discussed is to start with the end in mind.  What does that mean and how do you apply it?  Well, I recently had a difficult business issue.  I was working with two businesses and they were experiencing a conflict. I wanted to continue to work with both of them, but it was becoming apparent that was not going to work out.
Every time I met with one of the businesses I started the meeting out by saying “If I could have my way, I would work with both companies”. Then we would continue the meeting and deal with the current issue at hand.  I would also pose the question “Is there is anything I could ask the other company to change in order to make it work out for all of us?”
As time went on I was close to being pushed into having to work with one company or the other. I still continued to start each meeting with my statement, “If I could have my way, I would work with both companies”. When a deadline was issued, I made one final attempt and was able to find the core issue separating the two companies.  It was a major issue for one company and a very minor issue for the other.  The two companies were able to work things out and I am now able to continue the relationship with both companies.  I firmly believe that if I did not continue to state my preference for working with both companies, I would have lost one of them.  Apparently, starting with the end in mind does work.
Written by Michael Ericksen, WAC Solution Partners- Midwest