Interview

Talking With
STEPHEN R. COVEY

When it appeared in 1989 and stayed on the bestseller lists for five years, THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE put Stephen R. Covey on the map as a top-shelf personal development teacher. In THE 8TH HABIT, released in November in print and audio, he focuses on how leaders can develop emotional commitment in 21st-century organizations.

“I became gradually aware of the significance of this knowledge-worker age and how fundamentally different it is.” Companies in the Industrial Age, Covey says, counted people as expenses, rather than resources. “They squelched people’s voices—that is, each person’s unique talents, passions, and skills.” Leaders should encourage people to find their voices and help them make emotional commitments instead of just telling them what to do. “That kind of moral authority gradually develops only as leaders try to understand people, identify what they absolutely love doing that they do well, and create a marriage between that and the needs of the organization.”

Stephen Covey was not expected to become a teacher. He went to Harvard Business School so he could manage his father’s large hotel business. Once he discovered his passion for teaching, he broke the news to his father. “He was kind of shocked, but he was very sustaining. He understood the idea of letting people do their own thing if they really feel strong. I think he secretly kind of admired that I broke with the tradition.”

Covey is an interactive teacher who loves it when audiences challenge him or jump in with their own ideas. “I find the key in teaching is when it’s on the edge of chaos and a kind of dynamic occurs in the audience. The learning then is so authentic and so real.”

Though Covey’s writing is intellectually disciplined, he loves spontaneity and found it hard to endure the 10 days it took to record the unabridged audio of his new book and an unabridged edition of THE SEVEN HABITS. “Any extraneous noise and I had to go back to the top of the paragraph and say it again. I did the whole book! It’s the hardest work ever.”

In addition to writing, teaching, and co-chairing a leadership development firm with 4,300 people in 120 countries, Covey is passionate about helping families. “The concept of how you build a strong family in the midst of today’s world has such a strong appeal. When I go around the world, I always try to do a community fireside on the family, pro bono.” With nine married children and 42-and-a-half grandchildren (one due in December), he has had more than enough practice at family dynamics.

In an age when religious dogmatism divides people and institutions, the ideas in THE 8TH HABIT offer inclusive principles on how to rediscover human initiative. “These principles are not anyone’s religion but are part of all religions and all enduring philosophies . . . a compass based on true north that is universal and timeless.”—Thomas Walken

DEC 04/ JAN 05
© AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine