Stephen Covey

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Stephen R. Covey on the cover of his audio book Beyond The 7 Habits
Stephen R. Covey on the cover of his audio book Beyond The 7 Habits

Stephen R. Covey (born October 24, 1932 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is the author of the international best selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, first published in 1989. Other books he has written include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families. His latest book is The 8th Habit, published in 2004. Covey lives with his wife Rebecca, and their family in Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University where Dr. Covey taught prior the publication of his best selling book. He is a father of nine and a grandfather of forty-seven; he received the Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative in 2003.

Covey is the founder of the formerly Covey Leadership Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, which after being acquired by FranklinQuest on May 30, 1997 became the FranklinCovey Company, a global professional services firm and specialty retailer selling both training and productivity tools to individuals and organisations. Their mission statement reads: "We enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere."

Covey holds a BS in Business Administration from University of Utah in Salt Lake City, an MBA in Business Administration from Harvard University, and a DRE in Mormon Church History and Doctrine from Brigham Young University. He has made teaching principle-centered living and principle-centered leadership his life's work.

Covey is also a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity.

Contents

[edit] The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey's most famous book, was extremely successful and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 1989. The audio version was also the first non-fiction audio book in U.S. history to sell more than one million copies. Many of the ideas and language are recast from the classic 1966 Peter F. Drucker text "The Effective Executive," wherein he writes "Effectiveness, in other words, is a habit" and which includes a chapter called "First Things First." In Covey's version, he argues against what he calls "The Personality Ethic", something he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He instead promotes what he labels "The Character Ethic", which is about aligning one’s values with so called "universal and timeless" principles. Covey is adamant about not confusing principles and values. Principles are external natural laws; values are internal and subjective. Covey proclaims values govern people’s behaviour but it's principles that ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits - a progression from dependence, to independence, to interdependence.

The Habits:

  • Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Vision
  • Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Leadership
  • Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Personal Management
  • Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Interpersonal Leadership
  • Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Empathetic Communication
  • Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Communication
  • Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

Follow-up titles to The Seven Habits are meant to both add to the original and form a cohesive philosophy on personal, principle-based leadership. They are available in the format of audio books as well (such as the title Beyond The 7 Habits). Covey has also written a number of learning books for children. His son, Sean Covey, has written a version for teens: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. This version simplifies Covey's 7 Habits for younger readers to better understand them.

[edit] The 8th Habit

Covey's latest book The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (published in 2004) is the sequel to The Seven Habits. Covey claims being effective is not enough in what he calls "The Knowledge Worker Age". He proclaims "The challenges and complexity we face today are of a different order of magnitude." The 8th habit is essentially "Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs..."

[edit] Purpose of the books

Covey's aim is to help others gain proficiency in their lives, especially within the context of business and management and make money doing it. However, his books also emphasize family and personal leadership. They are marketed to a wide-ranging audience, from high-powered executives to stay-at-home moms. Similar authors might include Peter Drucker, David Allen, and Dale Carnegie as well as other more business-centered writers. Covey’s works also exhibit a central philosophical ideal, which some would interpret as right of center or conservative, although he was for a time a consultant to President Bill Clinton.

[edit] Criticism

Critics of Covey's methods contend that the author offers a "quick-fix" that dissipates when measured against the reality of day-to-day life. When confronted with situations that contain elements that are outside the realm of their personal influence, those imbued with Covey's summary of accountability can become frustrated at the "habits'" failure to place situations within that personal "circle of influence". In short, Covey is sometimes said to preach impractical, idealistic methods. Some of the examples in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People are clearly aimed at/designed for/relevant to a corporate executive rather than (for example) a single mother working two low-wage jobs, which limits the broad applicability of the book and system.

Advocates of Covey's methods point out that the author consistently opposes "quick-fix" solutions to life or business problems and insists that changes in paradigm or mindset to align with natural principles are the true source of solutions. Covey points out, for example, that the paradigm that produces short term results in business inevitably leads to an inability to produce results for the long term. He calls this "killing the golden goose." The most effective mindset for the business person is to balance short and long term productive capacities. Advocates of Covey's method also point out that single mother (cont.) can greatly benefit from the seven habits. This woman can realize that she can slowly learn to take control of her environment. For example, this woman can take one community college course over a five year period and earn an AA degree. This woman can use the 7 habits to raise her children to be mentally healthy even with a broken family and limited time with them. Lastly, this woman can learn how to get ahead in her two jobs or if she can't she can learn to find a new job that affords her more freedom. If this woman does not now how to read well, then she can't by practicing her reading and/or finding way to overcome this shortcoming. The seven habits can really be summarized as a process to identify and take the initiative to solve the problems in your life. The idea of proactivity, the foundation of 7 habits was developed by a person imprisoned in a concentration camp, an idea that was forged in such a place can surely be applied to most lives, as few people can attest to have suffered more.


Covey is also sometimes criticized for subdividing people into neat "proactive" and "reactive" categories, sometimes to the point of equating appropriate reactive qualities in someone's personality with mental illness[citation needed]. He also fails to address criticism that the two action methodologies have an appropriate time and situation where they are relevant.[1]

Covey has also been criticized by gay rights groups for his activity in opposing same-sex marriage in Hawaii in the early 1990s. [2]

[edit] Religious views

Stephen Covey is a devout, practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and who has authored several devotional works for Latter-day Saint or Mormon readers, including Spiritual Roots of Human Relations (1970). Some suggest that Mormon theology and cultural practices, specifically the notion of "agency" and belief in a personable deity, undergird his writing for a general audience.

[edit] Honors and awards

  • 2003 Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative
  • The Thomas More College Medallion for continuing service to humanity
  • Speaker of the Year in 1999
  • The Sikh's 1998 International Man of Peace Award
  • The 1994 International Entrepreneur of the Year Award
  • The National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership
  • Being named one of Time Magazine's 25 most influential Americans
  • Accepted the nationally acclaimed Corporate Core Values Award from California University of Pennsylvaniaon behalf of the FranklinCovey Corporation.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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