Stephen Covey

Stephen Richards Covey (born October 24, 1932, in Salt Lake City, Utah) is the author of 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. In 2004, Covey released The 8th Habit. In 2008, Covey released The Leader In Me—How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. He is a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Early Life

Covey is the son of Stephen Glenn Covey and his wife Irene Louise Richards. Louise is the daughter of Stephen L Richards, an apostle, and counselor in the first presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under David O. McKay.

Education

Covey earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Doctor of Religious Education (DRE) from Brigham Young University. Covey is a brother of Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. He has been awarded ten honorary doctorates.

Stephen Covey: Day 1

Between stimulus and response, one has the freedom to choose.

Don’t argue for other people’s weaknesses. Don’t argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it–immediately.

Every human has four endowments- self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.

Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.

If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective-expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own.

Stephen Covey: Day 2

Live out of your imagination, not your history.

Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.

The management works in the system. Leadership works on the system.

Stephen Covey: Day 3

Effective people are not problem-minded; they’re opportunity-minded. They feed opportunities and starve problems.

One of the best ways to educate our hearts is to look at our interaction with other people because our relationships with others are fundamentally a reflection of our relationship with ourselves.

Begin with the end in mind.

Paradigms are powerful because they create the lens through which we see the world.

Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or as we are conditioned to see it.

Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas. But can it?  True effectiveness require balance.

Our character is a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.