Stephen Covey

Dr Stephen R. Covey
File:Stephen Covey Beyond the 7 Habits.jpg Stephen R. Covey on the cover of his audio book Beyond The 7 Habits
Born	(1932-10-24) October 24, 1932 Salt Lake City, Utah
Occupation(s)	Author, professional speaker, consultant, management-expert
Spouse	Sandra Covey
Website	stephencovey.com

Stephen R. Covey (born October 24 1932 in Salt Lake City, Utah) wrote the best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Other books he has written include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families. His latest book, The 8th Habit, appeared in 2004.

Covey lives with his wife Sandra and their family in Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, where Dr. Covey taught prior to the publication of his best-selling book. A father of nine and a grandfather of forty-nine, he received the Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative in 2003.

Dr. Covey established the "Covey Leadership Center" which, on May 30, 1997, merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional-services firm and specialty-retailer selling both training and productivity-tools to individuals and to organizations. Their mission statement reads: "We enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere".

In 2008 Dr. Covey launched The Stephen Covey's Online Community. The site is a mash up of online courses, goal management and social networking. He uses it as a place to teach his most recent thoughts and ideas on current topics and self leadership.

Covey holds a BS degree in Business Administration from University of Utah in Salt Lake City, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Doctorate of Religious Education (DRE) in Mormon Church History and Doctrine from Brigham Young University. He also holds membership of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey's most well-known book, has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 1989. (The audio version became the first non-fiction audio-book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies.) Many of the ideas and much of the language recast the content of the classic 1966 Peter F. Drucker book The Effective Executive, wherein Drucker wrote: "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": aligning one’s values with so-called "universal and timeless" principles. Covey adamantly refuses to confound principles and values; he sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. Covey proclaims that values govern people’s behaviour, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence via 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-ups

Follow-up titles to The Seven Habits aim both to add to the original and to form a cohesive philosophy on personal, principle-based leadership. They come 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.

The 8th Habit

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

The Stephen Covey Online Community

In March of 2008 Dr. Covey launched the Stephen Covey's Online Community. The site is a mash up of online courses, goal management and social networking. Dr. Covey uses it as a place to teach his most recent thoughts and ideas on current topics and self leadership, his books as well as goal setting and reaching. The content is shared via videos, podcasts, printable text and online activities. Users are also able to set personal goals, track their progress and share their progress with others within the community. The community is currently growing at a rate of over 1000 users a week.

Debates on Covey's ideas and methodology

Gay-rights groups have criticized Covey for his activity in opposing same-sex marriage in Hawaii in the early 1990s. [1]

Religious views

As a practising member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stephen Covey has authored several devotional works for Latter-day Saint or Mormon readers, including:

• Spiritual Roots of Human Relations (1970)
• The Divine Center (1982)
• 6 Events: The Restoration Model for Solving Life's Problems (2004).

Evangelical writer Bill Gordon suggests that Mormon theology and cultural practices undergird Covey's writing for a general audience. Specifically, note the notion of "agency" (comparable with Covey's emphasis on "choosing" or "choice") and Covey's belief in a personal God. Himself "[s]ensitive to accusations that his books are little more than Mormon teachings repackaged as management training, Covey says he never introduces religion or politics into his books or worldwide seminars."

Missionary service

Covey served a two-year mission in England for the LDS Church. Covey also served as the first president of the Irish Mission of the Church starting in July of 1962. When Covey studied business at Harvard he would on occasion go and preach to crowds on Boston Common.

Honors and awards

• 2003 Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative
• The Thomas More College Medallion for continuing service to humanity
• The Sikh's 1998 International Man of Peace Award[2]
• The 1994 International Entrepreneur of the Year Award[3]
• The National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership[4]
• One of Time Magazine's 25 most influential Americans (1996)[5]
• Accepted the inaugural nationally-acclaimed California University of Pennsylvania's Corporate Core Values Award from the California University of Pennsylvania on behalf of the FranklinCovey Corporation at the "national Franklin Covey Conference" (December 2006).

Bibliography

• Spiritual Roots of Human Relations, published in 1970 (ISBN 0-87579-705-9).
• The Divine Center, published in 1982 (ISBN 1-59038-404-0).
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, published in 1989 (ISBN 0-671-70863-5).
• Principle Centered Leadership, published in 1992 (ISBN 0-671-79280-6).
• First Things First, co-authored with Roger and Rebecca Merrill, published in 1994 (ISBN 0-684-80203-1).
• Living the Seven Habits, published in 2000 (ISBN 0-684-85716-2).
• 6 Events: The Restoration Model for Solving Life's Problems, published in 2004 (ISBN 1-57345-187-8).
• The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, published in 2004 (ISBN 0-684-84665-9).
• Quest: The Spiritual Path to Success by Stephen R. Covey (Editor) (1997), with Thomas Moore, Mark Victor Hansen, David Whyte, Bernie Siegel, Gabrielle Roth and Marianne Williamson. Simon & Schuster AudioBook ISBN 9780671574840

External links

• Stephen Covey's Online Community
• Stephen Covey's official site
• FranklinCovey's official site
• TimeTo software: charityware for helping implement Covey First Things First methodology
• ISSSP Profile
• Critique of Covey from a Christian perspective
• Stephen Covey Quotes
• Critique of Covey from varius perspectives - "Guru Philosophy as Adult Education: Stephen Covey and the Cult of Educational Effectiveness, by Tara Fenwick Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta
• IMNO Interview of Stephen R. Covey
• Global Dharma Center's interview with Stephen Covey on Spiritual Based Leadership
• Covey as a Wellness Coach for AOL Coaches