Habit 4 is the first of three that forms the Public Victory. It brings you from independence to interdependence. Public Victory creates leaders. As a leader you are in position to influence people. To be an effective leader, you need the ability to think win/win. Covey sums up the different ways of human interaction.
Win/win proves that there doesn’t always have to be a winner and a loser. Win/lose is a competitive mindset. Lose/win is accepting a loss to make the other person feel good. Lose/lose is when ego driven people are too competitive and needs to win. Win is the mindset of winning. Win/win or no deal only works when your personal levels of integrity, maturity, and abundance have established enough trust for mutual benefits to become a reality.
When looking to follow the win/win criteria, you need to beware of the five dimensions of life. These dimensions are character, relationships, agreements, systems, process. Character is the foundation of win/win. Relationships are built through the foundation of character. Agreement gives direction and definition to win/win. These are four processes: see the problem from the other point of view, identify the key issues and concerns (not positions) involved, determine what results would constitute a fully acceptable solution, and identify possible new options to achieve those results.
Growing up, I was taught that winning is everything. However, I also learned that if you think positive, good things will happen. Think win/win is a positive mindset to have in the schools and businesses. You don’t have to be competitive because sometimes being competitive will get you in the lose/win or lose/lose