“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, is a book that you don’t read only once but a book that you take with you for the rest of your life. This book, written by Stephen Covey, has left quite an impression on readers all over the globe.
As an institution, the Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship(CLE) and the Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management collaborate with each other to inherit the habits guided by the Franklin Covey Nepal, Epiphany Squared Pvt. Ltd
When the second wave of Covid- 19 hit the nation, where the world seemed to have shut itself again in its homes as a part of our scaling-up journey, we decided to indulge ourselves in the wisdom of this great book. As the situation got better, we got to rejuvenate ourselves in a retreat for the colleagues of CLE & ACA at Agantuk, our teams attended workshops to learn about the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and implement these habits among each other. We have also decided to use these habits in our institutions and encourage each of these habits among every one of our students, faculty members, and management.
ACA, in collaboration with CLE, is acquiring modern techniques and facilities in its educational institute and we are looking forward to implementing these habits in our classrooms, eventually creating a very growth-encouraging environment.

Out of the 7 habits, 3 are for an individual, 3 are for an individual’s relation and interaction with others, and the last one is to keep a system alive; be it a personal system or a team environment. Looking more in-depth, here are the 7 habits and what we intend to create:
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Being proactive simply means not being reactive. We want to encourage a proactive attitude among everyone in our institution, ultimately creating an environment where no one is afraid to take necessary steps and be assertive about what they want.
We believe this behavior is imperative as it allows our students, faculty, and management to successfully step forward and create a flourishing environment where everyone is given the opportunity and chance to grow.
Habit 2: Begin With The End In Mind
We wish for everyone working and studying with us to be wiser in their actions and more mindful of the results they seek. The environment we grow up in has a collectively massive effect on the person we become. Be it family, friends, teachers, classmates, or culture. It’s important that we as individuals realize our values and tendencies and work on improving ourselves in that aspect.
A piece of cheese keeps a mouse motivated, similarly, it’s important that we find what motivates us and continue enriching the presence of motivating values in our lives. We want to encourage this thought in our students and lift them to great heights.
Habit 3: Put First Things First
At CLE and ACA, we teach leadership. In accordance with our beliefs. A great quote from Covey’s Book sums our beliefs up pretty well,
“Management is doing things right; Leadership is doing the right things” – Peter Drucker
We will always strive to create the best environment in our institution to inspire and create leaders. It is more valuable to do important things than urgent things. By encouraging this mindset, we believe our students and faculty members will be able to handle themselves better and strengthen their beliefs.
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
There isn’t much to be said about this, as it’s pretty obvious from the title. This habit simply encourages teamwork and helps everyone work well with everyone else. Not only does it empower teamwork, but it also requires an individual to be considerate of others and have the courage to put their trust in someone else; which is a valuable asset in any field.
Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood
Habit 5 aligns with Habit 4, where it’s important to be considerate of others.
There is more to teamwork than simple communication. It’s important that an individual takes time to consider the other person’s thoughts and feelings before blurting out words mindlessly. A conversation flows both ways, only a monologue goes one way.
By respecting and understanding the other person’s feelings, thoughts, and views can only really create a teamwork environment. And we don’t intend to create this environment among just students, but also among a teacher and their students.
Habit 6: Synergize
Naturally, what comes after Habit 5 is Habit 6. By acknowledging someone’s thoughts and feelings, they will feel more comfortable, and the team including these people will become strong and they will mesh well together. There’s not much else to be said about this. We simply want our classrooms to be healthy and full of warmness; not a classroom where the students fear teachers.
Habit 7: Sharpen The Saw
We all work on ourselves every now and then. But what’s the point if we don’t keep reminding ourselves where we came from and how much work we’ve done to get where we are?
We want all of our members to constantly look at themselves, and recognize their strengths, and their downfalls, It’s just important that we take time to realize that we need to be working on what’s important to us. Work for our long-term goals. And stop ourselves from diving face-first into urgency; ultimately burning out.
The workshop has been incredibly insightful and we are very happy to have had the chance of attending it. We’ve learned a great deal about becoming effective people and mentors. We look forward to spreading this knowledge among our colleagues and students. After all, we’re on a mission to create leaders and entrepreneurs; and that wouldn’t be easy without the knowledge we’ve received in this workshop.