Strategic Planners are critical catalysts for success in organizational change. To understand organizational and community change we will also assess personal change and development through reading and applying Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Effective Leadership.

This is a complex book that should be read and applied slowly for maximum benefit in making personal change. That is NOT how we will use the book. You can go back to the book to do that after class is completed, but for this class I will ask you to move through each chapter quickly, providing a summary and some initial personal applications as outlined at the end of each chapter. If you can finish the readings and assignments before class or early in the class, it will help you in all other aspects of the class.

Prior to the first class please read from the beginning of the book to Page 62, the Introduction. This book is a guide for your personal change, but more importantly, to understand the basic framework for all planning–looking ahead, controlling what we can, focus on the most important things. Please summarize the most important concepts or ideas/exercises Covey presented, and your response to them and to the whole introduction. Write a 1-3 page narrative and submit here.

Supplement your reading of Covey through this video on new initiatives in Community Building and overview. If you have trouble with the video copy and paste the URL into a new page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Je8B598XM0&list=PL80C043F98EDD6603%20%28Links%20to%20an%20external%20site.%29 (Links to an external site.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Je8B598XM0&list=PL80C043F98EDD6603 (Links to an external site.)