Stephen Covey is a lecturer, author, and founder of the Covey Leadership Center in Provo, Utah. He focuses on subjects including leadership and personal and organizational effectiveness. He has a unique style of personaldevelopment teaching that involves promoting individual development, discipline, and self-control, and he challenges organizations to treat their employees more holistically as a way to achieve greater productivity. In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) Covey states:
1. Be proactive. Be responsible and take the initiative.
2. Begin with the end in mind. When you start anything such as a day at the office or a meeting, make a mental image of an outcome that conforms to your values.
3. Put first things first. Discipline yourself to subordinate your feelings, moods, etc.
4. Think win/win.
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listen with the intent to empathize, not with intent to reply.
6. Synergize. Create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
7. Sharpen the saw. Engage one’s mental, emotional, physical and spiritual capabilities.
Stephen Covey is also the author of How to Succeed with People (1971); Principle-Centered Leadership (1991); and Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People (1994).