RIP Stephen Covey | Michael Angelo Caruso

The Godfather of professional development and personal productivity has passed away.?

Dr. Stephen Covey, author of the classic book,? 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has died from the complications of a bicycle accident last April.?

I can?t tell you how important this man was to me and many of my peers.?

In addition to writing one of the most popular self-improvement books of all time, Dr. Covey was an inspirational role model for most of us authors and speakers.

I heard Dr. Covey speak on a number of occasions and met him a couple times.?

The most memorable occasion occurred at a training session for speakers.?

The conference attendees assembled in a large hotel meeting room.? There was no stage or backstage area and I knew that any special guests would be likely to enter the door closest to the podium, so I sat at a table up front.?

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A few minutes before the program began, a bald, unassuming man walked into the room without fanfare or an entourage and sat right?next? to me!

We chatted for a few minutes before the program began and it was a great moment for me.? Later, I got to be in a group photo with Dr. Covey and some other attendees (above).

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Covey?s most famous book is not an easy? read.? Heck the audio book isn?t much easier to get through.?

The good doctor was not an entertainer, he was an intellect.? He wasn?t funny; he was smart.? Covey?s content was what I call a ?slow cook.?

For the uninitiated, here?s are the seven habits, along with a brief description of each.

Habit 1: Be Proactive
Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life?s principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the consequences that follow.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envision the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

Habit 3: Put First Things First
Prioritize, plan, and execute your week?s tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluate whether your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you toward goals, and enrich the roles and relationships that were elaborated in Habit 2.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Genuinely strive for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Value and respect people by understanding a ?win? for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten his way.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
Use empathic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.

Habit 6: Synergize
Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. Get the best performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Balance and renew your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable, long-term, effective lifestyle. It primarily emphasizes on exercise for physical renewal, prayer (mediation, yoga, etc.) and good reading for mental renewal. It also mentions service to the society for spiritual renewal.

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The 7 Habits book was so content-rich that it spawned several other books that expounded on individual habits within the book.?

Since then, I also had the chance to meet Dr. Covey?s son, Stephen M.R. Covey, the author of Speed of Trust?The One Thing That Changes Everything.?

This is perhaps the best book on time management that I?ve ever read.

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Tags: 7 habits, begin with the end in mind, michael Angelo Caruso, motivation, productivity, sharpen the saw, Stephen Covey

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2012 at 9:30 pm and is filed under Career development, Communication, Growing Your Business, Personal Development, Problem Solving, Self improvement, Success. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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