Yvonne Mcbarnett 7 Habits

Yvonne Mcbarnett was born and raised in London, England. She immigrated to the United States at the age of thirteen. She grew up a “PK” or pastor’s kid in Boston and can remember hard days and many struggles attributed to being not only a woman, but a woman of color. She was able to complete her middle and high school education in the States, but bypassed a four-year college to earn an Associate’s degree while working full time as a singer. Yvonne sang at various churches and venues with a group of her friends before starting a career in the corporate world. She worked in the life insurance industry and at Bank of America, doing “behind the scenes” work on large deposits of money. It was not until she had children that she decided to change

Smiley” because any time you see her she is smiling and happy. This happy attitude transfers into to how she leads her team. Without having previously read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Yvonne lives Stephen Covey’s philosophies (2004). She especially follows habits two and three. Covey explains Habit Two as “Beginning with the End in Mind,” meaning to think about one’s ultimate goals and live a principle-centered life (2004). Yvonne was very passionate about her values and it is clear that she lives with them in her center every day. She explained that she wants everyone to see consistency in how she acts and her values “whether [she’s] at work, at home or at church” she acts the same and values characteristics like respect, punctuality, kindness, and perseverance (Y. Mcbarnett, personal communication, February 14, 2018). Being principle-centered allows her to have clarity in the face of adversity and paved her way to

Her path to power was not easy. She talked about overcoming obstacles along the way. She claims that the hardest part is “having people accept you for who you are and when you’re a woman, not only a woman but a woman of color, sometimes you are not received the way you want to be received” (Y. Mcbarnett, personal communication, February 14, 2018). She feels like she has to defend herself as a woman of color to her white counterparts and prove to everyone that she can be an effective leader regardless of stereotypes and