The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey has been around for more than 25 years. I've heard Stephen Covey speak about this book. (What I write is from memory, not direct quotes) He has said that it came about from his research into the leadership and personal development literature of the last one hundred years. He notes in his talks that up until the mid 1950s or 60s, that these books focussed on the development of character. He noted, however, that by the mid 60s these books began focussing more on personality or even manipulation. This literature focussed more on getting people to do what you want, than to influence through personal integrity and intent.


The book is great, but I must admit what I love most is to be in a session learning its materials. If you ever get a chance to attend a workshop, the videos and participant materials are also amazing.

These are the things that I like so much about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:

1. It requires you to think about who you are and what your purpose is.
2. It asks you to live your purpose and gives you skills to make it a reality.
3. It allows you to learn how to master your personal development so that you can become more effective with others.

We can all walk around with our own list of values and principles that we say guide us. The proof is in our living of them. This often takes courage. It's not that we are still teens who can submit to peer pressure. However, even adults sometimes get stuck in their concerns about what others think about us.


The test of true character is what we do when no one is watching. Are we able to be the same in moments of stress as we are in moments of ease?

This book really helps you discover what areas of personal leadership you need to develop and helps you to learn how to 'walk your talk.'


While each person is different, learns differently and needs different things, this book is one that can really help anyone. Whether people are leaders of large corporations, or just leading their own lives, there is so much that they can learn from this book. In the end, you need to apply it to yourself and you need to decide how these principles work for you.