5 Habits to Lead from Your Heart. Johnny Covey

IS the Strategy

      “5 Habits to Lead from Your Heart offers lessons in how to live particularly suited for our era, when so many of us have had to adjust our expectations. After experiencing the worst of our new century’s Great Recession, Johnny Covey dug deep into his heart and discovered enduring wisdom that offers balance and meaning in chaotic times. This book is worthy of Stephen R. Covey—high praise, indeed—and it is a great gift.”

      ~Sally Helgesen, author of The Female Vision, The Web of Inclusions and Thriving in 24/7

      “In my work with leaders across multiple countries and cultures, I see common challenges. In 5 Habits to Lead from Your Heart, Johnny Covey gets to the heart and soul of these issues: Effective leadership of teams and organizations always starts with effective leadership of self.”

      ~Brenda Bence, author of Would YOU Want to Work for YOU? and What’s Holding YOU Back?

      “Clear, concise and current, the 5 Habits playbook is a perfect companion and guide as you play the Game of Life, your life. With conscience as your personal internal compass you will discover the courage to be yourself and know the joys of spontaneity. Choose how you think and feel today, in the present moment, and then choose to do something to invent your own principled, purposeful, authentic life—one that affirms yourself and others. With this playbook in hand, trusting your heart as the generative core of who you are, you can look forward to one ‘Whoopee’ after another.”

      ~Wan Su, Founder/Chairman, The Pacific Institute-China

      “Some books are irritating in a positive way, and this book for me is one of them. After reading and reflecting on Johnny Covey’s 5 Habits, my heart compass is many degrees closer to true north now. Thank you for your gift and inspiration.”

      ~Thomas Reichart, CEO of Reichart Leadership Group; former CEO of FranklinCovey Europe

      “This is the one book our generation needs—it’s an antidote to our greatest problem: We have systemically taught our hearts to take a back seat to our heads. In school we learn to teach our hearts to fit in, to not be authentic, but rather to put on masks to gain rewards, to get out of our hearts and be smart, to impress others with our mechanized drives to fit in, get ahead, measure up, obtain more, get good grades, seek the next promotion, and analyze every decision. We seek the safe path most traveled.”

      “In all this, the head rules. The heart is often ignored, even shouted down, when it tries to tell us vital things we need to know, feel, and do. We consult experts rather than rely on our inner wisdom. Even in our closest relationships, we often treat our hearts like children whose role is to be seen, not heard. Johnny’s book is a modern-day MBA for the heart, teaching us how to reboot our creativity, initiative, innovation and passion for life and work—how to get real and reignite our genuine self. This is not another outside-in self-help book; it’s the opposite. You’ll experience a profound exploration of a place where the heart is a full partner with the head. Beware—this may be alien territory, so use this book as your guide.”

      ~Oliver DeMille, New York Times bestselling author, founder of Thomas Jefferson Education

      Made For Success Publishing

      P.O. Box 1775 Issaquah, WA 98027

      www.MadeForSuccessPublishing.com

      Copyright© 2016 by Johnny Covey

      All rights reserved.

      In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

      Distributed by Made For Success Publishing

      Design by DeeDee Heathman

      Illustrations by Cotton McCulloch and Morgan Potter

      First Trade Edition: June 2016

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

      Covey, Johnny

      5 Habits to Lead from Your Heart: Getting Out of Your Head to

      Express Your Heart

      p.cm.

       eBook ISBN: 9781613398494Print ISBN: 9781613399026LCCN: 2016900211

      Printed in the United States of America

      First Trade Edition: June 2016

      Book design by DeeDee Heathman

      Illustrations by Cotton McCulloch and Morgan Potter

      For further information contact Made For Success Publishing [phone] or email [email protected]

      DEDICATION

      To Christine, who loves and believes in me with all her HEART. To my Children, who remind me to play with all my HEART.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      When I realized that Ken Shelton (who worked with my great uncle Stephen R. Covey on the 7 Habits and was the editor of Executive Excellence and Personal Excellence) lived near me I asked for an introduction from one of my clients. His first edits proved he was as good as I had hoped. Over the next year I would drive to his home and we would wrestle with what to do next on the book. Some might think it’s odd to put your editor on the cover, but Ken’s willingness to invest his experience in this book as if it were his own should be acknowledged.

      My true love Christine has been my partner in creating the Head-to-Heart framework and putting it into the 5 Habits. You can see her work throughout the book making the stories personal as well as sharing her story by being mentored throughout the book. Her ability to clarify an idea, editing the content for flow and impact was exactly what the book needed. As we each have implemented these principles personally, in our relationship and our family it has been a beautiful co-creation. I am so grateful she has been willing to embark on this journey together.

      To my parents who provided me with experience after experience of being in my Heart.

      To Bryan and Deedee Heathman. Their vision on what the book was and could become is all I could ever want from a publisher, not to mention their willingness to do the work to get it there.

      To Catherine Barrack for her ability to edit from the reader’s perspective.

      To every previous experience along the way that has brought me to this point.

      CONTENTS

       FOREWORD

       INTRODUCTION

       Experiential Playbook

       LEAD FROM THE HEART

       The Root Problem

       The Gap in the Game