Praise for The 8th Habit “Steve Covey does it again with cutting-edge thinking. The 8th Habit is about finding out why you’re here and helping others to do the same. Is there a nobler cause? Don’t miss this book!” —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager® and Customer Mania! “Covey’s work has influenced millions upon millions of people worldwide. In this book, he takes a huge conceptual leap and introduces us to ideas and practices that will have a profound impact on all our lives.
The 8th Habit is a marvelous read, a triumph of the spirit and, in my view, Covey’s most important work.” —Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Management, USC; author of On Becoming a Leader; and coauthor of Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values, and Defining Moments Shape Leaders “Getting results in large companies is a very rare skill and this book captures how to do it. The guidance provided here will prove invaluable for leaders who are trying to drive tighter execution in their organizations.” —Kevin Rollins, President and CEO, Dell Inc. “For years I have been using the 7 Habits as guiding principles in leading my business. I had to read The 8th Habit.
Having done so, I am completely wowed, captured and empowered. The 8th Habit is a true masterpiece, a must-read. These principles of personal and organizational leadership, when lived, unleash human genius and inspire deep commitment and magnificent levels of service and satisfaction. This book will be my gift to all my associates as required reading for all of my future endeavors.” —Horst Schulze, former President and COO of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company “Stephen Covey has long been a surefooted guide to those desiring to better themselves.
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness shows how to climb the summit of fulfillment and achievement.” —Steve Forbes, President and CEO of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine “I hope Stephen writes a dozen more books. But should he not do so, The 8th Habit will clearly stand as the crowning achievement of a lifetime of service. May millions upon millions the world over read, share and be moved to firmly grasp the reins of their lives as a result!” —Tom Peters, author of Re-imagine: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age “This remarkable new book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, provides the key to unlocking a wondrous gift—namely, the greatness within each of us. It also achieves the same substantive standards Stephen Covey provided in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Wooden, Coach Emeritus, UCLA Basketball, and author of My Personal Best “Stephen Covey continues to amaze. With this book, he enables readers to take another giant step toward realizing the greatness that resides within ourselves and others. His 8th Habit is really a timeless principle of leadership—one of respect for the individual, an essential truth lost in a world that increasingly regards people as little more than a means of production. In a marketplace that is global and linked by seemingly infinite networks, Stephen helps us reveal and celebrate the unique greatness of the countless people who touch our lives every day.
As the leader of 120,000 talented individuals in nearly 150 countries, I appreciate the distinction— and the framework for leadership that this learned man so freely shares. Parrett, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu “With The 8th Habit, Stephen Covey has taken leadership to a new, inspiring level. A book that all who aspire to leadership positions must read.” —Arun Gandhi, President, M. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence “Great leaders know and appreciate the value of people.
They don’t just listen to the opinions of others, they seek them out. They make sure every member of their team has the opportunity to make a meaningful, lasting contribution. They recognize that their most important responsibility as a leader is to develop their people, give them room to grow and inspire them to realize their full potential. This has long been our philosophy at Marriott, where we believe that if we take great care of our associates, they will take great care of our customers.
Stephen Covey shares this philosophy, and his book The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness is an excellent guide on how to be a stronger, more effective and truly inspiring leader., Chairman and CEO, Marriott International, Inc. “As usual, Stephen R. Covey has excelled in focusing on what inspires the heart and at the same time gets the business done. The 8th Habit—to have peace of mind and intense focus—is essential.” —Ram Charan, author of What the CEO Wants You to Know and coauthor of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done “I have been waiting more than a decade for the next phase of Stephen Covey’s work on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The demands on my life have changed dramatically since I first read The 7 Habits and I needed another way to look at my life and my balance. I am inspired again!” —Greg Coleman, EVP, Yahoo! Media and Sales “The 8th Habit is a powerful, practical road map for progressing beyond effectiveness. Anyone who aspires to happiness and fulfillment should read this book. Christensen, Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School “The Godfather of Leadership has done it one better! Stephen Covey’s The 8th Habit will provide you with the ultimate tool to discover your unmistakable voice in pursuit of your true vision.” —Pat Croce, former President, Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), and bestselling author of I Feel Great and You Will Too! and Lead or Get Off the Pot! “An absolute must-read for aspiring business executives who want to significantly increase their personal effectiveness in the workplace and at home.
Covey has created a brilliant blueprint for both career and personal success in the new millennium. Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Co. “The 8th Habit is filled with timeless principles that will help both individuals and organizations in their pursuit of excellence. Stephen’s latest insights are challenging and compelling.
This book is a call to action for twenty-first- century leaders.” —Tim Tassopoulos, Sr. Vice President, Operations, Chick-fil-A “Stephen Covey’s new work resonates strongly with my belief that every individual and every organization has the potential to achieve and sustain greatness. He understands that greatness requires passion and passion must be driven by core business practices that foster and reward collaboration, growth and commitment.” —Ann Livermore, Executive Vice President, Technology Solutions Group, HP “I believe Stephen Covey has really captured the essence of what leadership is all about. The 8th Habit will turn out to be the most important one for successful executives.
Jordan, Chairman and CEO, EDS Thank you for purchasing this Free Press eBook. Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Free Press and Simon & Schuster. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP or visit us online to sign up at eBookNews.com CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Pain Chapter 2 The Problem Chapter 3 The Solution PART 1: FIND YOUR VOICE Chapter 4 Discover Your Voice—Unopened Birth-Gifts Chapter 5 Express Your Voice—Vision, Discipline, Passion and Conscience PART 2: INSPIRE OTHERS TO FIND THEIR VOICE Chapter 6 Inspiring Others to Find Their Voice—The Leadership Challenge FOCUS—MODELING AND PATHFINDING Chapter 7 The Voice of Influence—Be a Trim-Tab Chapter 8 The Voice of Trustworthiness—Modeling Character and Competence Chapter 9 The Voice and Speed of Trust Chapter 10 Blending Voices—Searching for the Third Alternative Chapter 11 One Voice—Pathfinding Shared Vision, Values and Strategy EXECUTION—ALIGNING AND EMPOWERING Chapter 12 The Voice and Discipline of Execution—Aligning Goals and Systems for Results Chapter 13 The Empowering Voice—Releasing Passion and Talent THE AGE OF WISDOM Chapter 14 The 8th Habit and the Sweet Spot Chapter 15 Using Our Voices Wisely to Serve Others Twenty Most Commonly Asked Questions APPENDICES Appendix 1 Developing the 4 Intelligences/Capacities: A Practical Guide to Action Appendix 2 Literature Review of Leadership Theories Appendix 3 Representative Statements on Leadership and Management Appendix 4 The High Cost of Low Trust Appendix 5 Implementing the 4 Disciplines of Execution Appendix 6 xQ Results Appendix 7 Max & Max Revisited Appendix 8 The FranklinCovey Approach About FranklinCovey About the Author Notes Index To the humble, courageous, “great” ones among us who exemplify how leadership is a choice, not a position ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One of the great learnings of my life is this: If you want to make a new contribution, you’ve got to make a whole new preparation. Though every significant writing project I’ve ever undertaken has reinforced this principle, it is so easy to forget.
I began working on this book five years ago thinking I could draw on my lifetime of study, teaching and consulting in the field of leadership and “whip it out” in a matter of a few months. After more than a year of teaching the material and writing, my team and I finished an initial rough draft—thrilled we had finally arrived. It was at that moment we experienced what hikers often discover when climbing mountains: We hadn’t reached the summit at all, only the top of the first rise. From this new vantage point of sweat-earned insights we could see things we had never seen before—ones only made visible at the top of that hill.
So we set our sights on the “real” mountain and began the new climb. We literally went through this same experience another dozen times, each time thinking we had finally reached the “peak,” each time convinced that the book was finally “there” and each time being humbled into the realization that we had only risen to yet another critical level of insight, and that there was another mountain ahead. The greatest and most inspiring mountain climbing achievements in history are not so much stories of individual achievement, but are stories of the extraordinary power of a unified, talented, prepared team that stays loyally committed to one another and to their shared vision to the end. Most climbing teams that set out to climb Mount Everest never reach the summit —only the very, very few.
For one reason or another, most people and teams, when pressed to their limits by the extreme conditions, drop out along the way and either choose to or are forced to turn back. The story behind the five-year climb to completing this book is no different. Were it not for the determination and unflagging commitment, patience, encouragement and synergistic contributions of the remarkable team that assisted me with this project, the book would not only have failed to become what it is, it would have never seen the light of day! So it is with deep gratitude that I express my appreciation to the following for their contributions: • To literally tens of thousands of people in various settings all over the world who cared enough to give honest feedback and to willingly share their real-time, real-life issues, pains and hopes, all of which put me on a “chain of mountains” learning climb that resulted in constant reinvention, precious insights and endless tests of the team’s patience. • To Boyd Craig for his extraordinary, able, five-year commitment, passion and devotion in both developmental and line editing of the book; for managing all dimensions of this massive team book project; for his leadership and synergistic partnering with our publisher, our agent and within our company; and above all for his spirituality, judgment, flexibility, patience and content expertise.
My heartfelt gratitude goes likewise to Boyd’s wife, Michelle Daines Craig, for her magnificent positive spirit and unfailing support and sacrifice that sustained the “marathon.” • To my office staff and extended office support team—Patti Pallat, Julie Judd Gillman, Darla Salin, Julie McAllister, Nancy Aldridge, Kara Foster Holmes, Luci Ainsworth, Maria Miner, Diane Thompson and Christie Brzezinski—for truly uncommon devotion and loyalty, second-mile make-it-happen service and world-class professionalism.