By the thinkBIG Team
If anyone has cause to rest on his laurels, that person is Stephen R. Covey. But like the saying goes, "If you're resting on your laurels, you're wearing them in the wrong place." Covey has adopted a motto that means his best work is always before him: "Live life in crescendo."
A STORY OF GREATNESS
In 1989, Covey published The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which has sold more than 15 million copies.
"Effectiveness is focused on results," says Covey. "Efficiency is focused on productivity." His research – 200 years of success literature – enabled him to see a clear break in the way people thought about success. Since the start of the 20th century, the symbols – wealth, celebrity, and achievement (what Covey calls ‘secondary greatness') – have defined success. Before then, the quality of your character (‘primary greatness') gave that definition. People now think owning the most toys matters more than a meaningful life.
To restore the ‘character ethic,' Covey taught principles as the guide to which practices to use on the way to success. A principle applies at any time, while a practice varies given the situation. Take the principle of trustworthiness (to be trusted, you must be worthy of trust). A practice to gain trust is to arrive on time. If things are in the right order, then the principle defines the practice. The other way round and you're paddling against the current.
When you work on primary greatness, secondary greatness often follows. For Covey, Time named him one of their top 25 most influential people. He founded his own company and after a merger it became FranklinCovey - that, in 2007, earned US$284 million. If Covey chose to rest on his laurels, he'd have plenty of padding.
But while secondary greatness is important to him, primary greatness comes first – and he's certain where it starts. "Everywhere I go, I try and give a pro bono speech on the family, because real character development begins in the family." With his wife, Sandra, the Coveys are parents to nine, grandparents to 50, and greatgrandparents to four – some serious productivity.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The basis of Covey's later work, a proudly battered copy belongs in the library of any success-seeker. Defining the principles (see main article) of effectiveness, it shows how secondary greatness divorced from primary greatness is worthless.
The 8th Habit.
The 7 Habits are principles of effectiveness - this habit is of greatness. Greatness requires strong character, the core of 21st century success.
Everyday Greatness.
Secondary greatness, by nature, is limited (e.g., not everyone can be the richest person in the world). Primary greatness is open to everyone. These stories from Reader's Digest show ordinary people living greatly.
The Leader in Me.
Aimed at teachers and parents, this book shows how unleashing students' potential for primary greatness leads to secondary greatness – the students become better people, and their scores go up.
FROM EFFECTIVENESS TO GREATNESS
Since publishing The 8th Habit in 2004, Covey's lifework has a clearer centre. "In the US, many people are focused on celebrity. Their sense of identity comes from celebrity, and they neglect primary greatness." Even many of Covey's readers choose to apply principles only to the purposes of secondary greatness. Most selfhelp books deal with how to get what you want, not how to be a worthwhile person. While he knows both forms of greatness matter, Covey's work now centres on primary greatness.
To understand what Covey has done in The 8th Habit and since, a metaphor – effectiveness gets you the interview, but greatness lands you the job. The subtitles of his recent books reflect this theme. First came Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Life, and last year he wrote The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time.
In The Leader in Me, Covey says "We only get one chance to prepare our students for a future that none of us can possibly predict. What are we going to do with that one chance?" Schools teaching the 7 Habits are making that chance count. "Kids learn how to solve their own problems," Covey tells ThinkBig. "It's encouraging to see how effective kids can be when people see them as leaders ¬– when teachers and parents see their worth and potential and affirm it."
Students at 7 Habits schools gain the academic results needed to impress employers plus the life skills to master an ever-changing reality. The Leader in Me says schools report:
THE 7 HABITS & THE 8TH HABIT
Habit 1: Be Proactive. You're responsible for your results. Your life stems from careful design or careless choice. You choose to direct your life, or you choose to be the plaything of circumstance.
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind. See the finish line before you start. How do you want people to remember you? What result do you want to have at days' end?
Habit 3: Put First Things First. Choose to do what it takes to reach your finish line regardless of mood or circumstance.
Habit 4: Think Win/Win. Whenever it comes to others, ask how you can get what you want while helping them get what they want.
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. Listen before you speak. Get people to clarify their understanding of what you've said.
Habit 6: Synergize. You get greater results working with others than the sum of your combined efforts working singly.
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw. Take the time to keep your mind, body, emotions, and spirit in peak condition.
Habit 8: Find Your Voice and Inspire Others to Find Theirs. Make your unique contribution to the world and help others do the same.
First the 7 Habits scaled the peaks of business; now more than 600 schools globally – including Timboon P-12 School in Geelong, Victoria – have their eyes on the top. What's next – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Prisoners?
THE GREATEST WORK LIES AHEAD
Actually, that's underway. Covey's working on six books – including one about prisoners trained in the 7 Habits. That book, The End of Crime, looks at a new way of facing crime. In one prison, none of the former prisoners taught the 7 Habits have returned to jail. "When they leave prison, they care about their families, and they care about making a contribution."
Before he wrote the 7 Habits, Covey's contribution was academic, and he returns in another book to that field. "The idea is that universities can be trim tabs – the small rudder that turns the big rudder that turns the ship – in their communities. They can be leaders in the community and the entire community can become involved."
But perhaps the most exciting book Covey is writing is based on his motto – Live Life in Crescendo – a book that stemmed from his curiosity about why women live an average of seven years longer than men. Hans Selye's work around eustress – stress that is healthy and gives people a feeling of fulfilment - suggests the answer:
women stay involved in meaningful work, while men get their meaning from their careers, and when the career ends, so do they.
One of Covey's heroes is Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning, and they spoke not long before Frankl's death. Covey asked him about his greatest contributions. "You're speaking to me as if I'm checking out," Frankl retorted. "I still have two projects I'd like to complete."
Frankl's spirit lives now in Covey – and he'd like to finish one of those projects Frankl couldn't. On the West Coast of the US, Covey hopes to erect a Statue of Responsibility. In size, it would match the Statue of Liberty, and the ideas they represent balance each other. "When you have responsibility and liberty together," Covey says, "you have unleashed uncommon human potential."
Many of Covey's children are finding their potential through building on their father's lifework. Sean wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens and The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, making the 7 Habits easier to grasp for younger people. Another son, Stephen, has written The Speed of Trust. Maria has written Contentment, for mothers. And David, who once headed FranklinCovey in Australia, has a book underway.
"The greatest legacy I can leave," finishes Dr Covey, "is to see my children focused on contributing to other families, their communities, and the world, and not be focused on secondary greatness. I'd like to see their children make a real difference. I have four greatgrandchildren and that will be the real test – to see whether the culture continues."
