In my book, The 8th Habit—From Effectiveness to Greatness, I wrote about some of the seismic shifts we’ve seen in our world—changes that have created a fast evolving world. These new realities define our new Knowledge Worker Age and the challenges and opportunities that face people and organizations all over the world.

Today, we are seeing such a seismic shift unfolding before us with Twitter social media and technology. If you weren’t familiar with what Twitter is, I’m sure you’ve heard of it by now.  Iran is undergoing a movement that has the potential of revolutionizing their state and society as people take to the streets protesting recent election results. Through this innovative tool, the people’s voices in Iran are being heard loud and clear throughout the world.

I wrote in the 8th Habit that the crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs. On page 104 I specifically wrote about the effects of the internet in the democratization (finding voice) of our world. Here is the excerpt:

The Democratization of Information/Expectations
No one manages the internet. It is a sea change of global proportion. For the first time in history the pure voice of the human spirit rings out in millions of unedited conversations unfettered by borders. Real-time information drives expectations and social will, which ultimately drive the political will that impacts every person.

What are your thoughts? How are social networking applications changing your life, giving you voice and shaping the world we live in?

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I just completed a speaking tour in Brazil, where I met and talked with many amazing, gracious people, who are profoundly committed to principle-centered living and service. One couple traveled over 15 hours with their baby to hear me speak. When they got there they were told that no babies were allowed in the hall. Not wanting to disappoint them, the organizers of the event offered to babysit their baby so they could attend the program. What a magnificent gesture and display of compassion and willingness to serve!

Another encounter also moved me and humbled me. I had the privilige of meeting with Dr. Ricardo Guimaraes who made great efforts to travel for the event. He is an eye doctor who years ago was in a bad airplane accident, where he risked his own life by pulling out passengers of the plane. As a result, Dr. Guimaraes suffered severe burns on his body with scars on many parts of his body that are still visible today. This experience caused him to have a total life change and he made the decision to be more service-oriented. He is now working with our FranklinCovey office in Brazil helping to develop The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens program to help the youth in Brazil. As I sat with Dr. Guimaraes, talking over lunch, I was so moved by his humility, courage, and willingness to serve.

When we are willing to serve others, we find our voice and our greatest selves. I encourage each of you to find your voice, especially during this holiday season of Thanksgiving in the U.S.. It is is in giving that we receive life’s greatest blessings. Thank you for all that you do in your families, workplaces, and community!

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“One word expresses the pathway to greatness: voice. Those on this path find their voice and inspire others to find theirs. The rest never do.”

Stephen R. Covey
Key Message

The power to discover your voice lies in the potential that was bequeathed you at birth. Latent and undeveloped, the seeds of greatness were planted. You were given magnificent “birth-gifts”-talents, capacities, privileges, intelligences, opportunities-that would remain largely unopened except through your own decision and effort. Open these gifts. Learn what taps your talents and fuels your passion-that rises out of a great need in the world that you feel drawn by conscience to meet-therein lies your voice, your calling, your soul’s code.

Q: How do you define “voice”?

A: Voice is the overlapping of the four parts of our nature: our body, our mind, our heart, and our spirit. These also represent the four intelligences: our IQ for the mind, our EQ for the heart, our SQ for the spirit, and our PQ for the body.

To help you find this, answer these 4 question.

1. What are you good at? That’s your mind.

2. What do you love doing? That’s your heart.

3. What need can you serve? That’s the body.

4. And finally, what is life asking of you? What gives your life meaning and purpose? What do you feel like you should be doing? In short, what is your conscience directing you to do? That is your spirit.

People are internally motivated by their own four needs: to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy. When they overlap, you have voice-your calling, your soul’s code.

Q: Is finding your voice an evolving process, or can it happen all at once like a light bulb going on in your head?

A: I think that it can happen all at once, but more so, I think it is an evolving process. As people grow up, they are exposed to different fields of knowledge and different experiences. They don’t yet know what they’re good at or even what they will like doing. Once they have this exposure and education and they start getting involved, they start to find satisfaction, and that leads to success as it begins to give them a sense of their voice or what they really love doing that they do well. For some people, it does comes like a flash of light, but it is usually preceded by someone who really deeply believes in them-sees their strengths and affirms them when they don’t see their own potential themselves. This creates an opportunity for that voice to be developed and expressed. This happened with me.

Q: Is the process of finding your voice the same for an individual as it is for an organization that is trying to find its voice?

A: That’s a very interesting question and I think in a very real sense, it is the same. But because an organization is made up of many different individuals who have different voices and a different sense of what gives them meaning and their life purpose, it takes communication processes where people are genuine and authentic with each other in expressing what they really care about. However, people gradually get a sense of what the organization stands for, what it loves doing and does well, and what it feels like it should be doing. So, there is kind of a collective form of the four intelligences that overlaps and develops in an evolutionary way.

Q: How can we help someone find his or her voice?

A: I think if you care about people genuinely, you listen to them and observe them; because this is more than just hearing them speak, it is observing them-observing where their excitement is, where their enthusiasm is; observing where you sense they have potential. Sometimes it is very powerful just to say to them in sincerity, “I believe you have great potential in this area. I see real strengths in you that you may not see in yourself, and I would like to create an opportunity for you to use those strengths and to develop this potential. Would you be interested in that?” Most people are so flattered by someone who sincerely cares for them and affirms their work and potential that they are moved and inspired by that kind of input. It’s very powerful and it can make all of the difference, particularly with people who grow up with a confused lifestyle, bad modeling, and basic education. Often they have no clue as to what life is about or what they are about until someone becomes a teacher to them-a mentor, a confirmer, and a coach. This kind of mentoring is becoming increasingly important in education, in relationships, and in work environments. It can make all of the difference as to whether a person takes a higher road to his or her own voice or a lower road to where he or she is swallowed up by the priorities and voices of others.

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