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Circle of Influence

Published by on July 1, 2016

Several years ago Stephen Covey wrote one of the all time best selling leadership books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. It is a book that I have read several times and refer to often.

The first habit in the book is to be proactive and take responsibility for leading our own lives. He writes, “It means that as human beings, we are responsible for our own lives. Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions. We can subordinate feelings to values.”

One of the most practical tips for doing this on a daily basis is what he calls the circle of concern in our lives vs. the circle of influence. The circle of concern represents all the things we really care about but have no control over to change the outcome. If we are not careful we can spend most of our day here with nothing to show for all the emotional effort.

The circle of influence though contains all the things that are important to us as well but we do have the ability to control the outcome. When we focus on what we cannot control during the day that just means there were many things that should and could be done that were not.

The amazing thing about this principle is that the more you prioritize the things you can do and start accomplishing them the things you cannot control proportionally diminish in their importance.

When we are doing the things we know we should do it not only allows us to accomplish something but it also gives us the needed perspective to deal with all the things that are beyond our control.

To quote another Covey principle: WIN WIN

Categories: Career DevelopmentPersonal LeadershipWork Life Integration

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“Dan led a workshop on “Reaching Your Potential” at our annual Utility Supply Management Alliance conference. Dan led the group through a very specific process on establishing specific goals, (personal, family and professional) and on how to develop a plan of execution and evaluation.

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I had the distinct pleasure of working with Dan for about 2 yrs during his time with Anthem/Amerigroup as a consultant providing executive coaching and professional development support for myself and our leadership team. Dan is an absolute professional and an expert in this field and his engagement with our team helped us transform, particularly in the areas of conflict management/resolution, communication, delegation, trust, and leadership. Dan is candid and sincere and doesn’t shy away from providing direct feedback and a plan that helps you make leaps in your professional development. I found his guidance, tools, and coaching to be a significant factor in my personal and professional development supporting my recent career progression. Above all of his professional skills and years of experience, you can feel and see Dan’s passion for his work and this translates to meaningful and lasting engagement and impact.

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As a Christian business man I have a deep desire not only to provide for our employees physical needs but also offer a means for them to develop as a whole person. With Dan’s background and business acumen he has been able to support both their personal and professional development. Everyone that Dan has worked with has expressed tremendous appreciation to our company for providing him to assist in their growth.

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