Product Description

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259 in Books
• Published on: 2004-11-09
• Released on: 2004-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743269513
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Anyone who thinks the audiocassette adaptation of Stephen Covey's bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is a shortcut to reading the book has another thing coming. As a preview, the cassette is worth every one of its 90 minutes; as a substitute for the original, it will only leave you wishing for the rest. There's a reason 7 Habits has sold more than 5 million copies and been translated into 32 languages. Serious work has obviously gone into it, and serious change can likely come out of it--but only with constant discipline and steadfast commitment. As the densely packed tape makes immediately clear, this is no quick fix for what's ailing us in our personal and professional lives.

The tape opens to the silky-smooth, overtrained voice of the female narrator, who's responsible for tying together audio clips from actual Covey seminars. Leaving aside the occasional attempts at promoting Covey and his institute, her script does a first-rate job of making sense of Covey's own intense, analogy-rich style of explaining his habits. There's nothing simple about his approach to becoming an effective person. The first three habits alone--which have to do with personal responsibility, leadership, and self-management--could take years to master. Yet the last four are unattainable, the narrator insists, if you can't acquire the personal security--the "inner core," says Covey--that presumably comes from a mastery of the foundation.

Throughout our lessons, Covey's presence is both learned and thoroughly appealing. He drops references to the likes of Socrates, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost with the aplomb of an English professor. And his knack for mixing everyday stories with abstract concepts manages to clarify difficult issues while respecting our intelligence. You could argue that the cassette is nothing more than a clever marketing tool for selling another few million copies of the book. But, even at that, it's worth the investment in time and concentration: in the end, we're moved to learn more about integrating all seven habits in our struggle to become better and, yes, more effective people. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Ann Senechal

Review
John Pepper President, Procter and Gamble I've never known any teacher or mentor on improving personal effectiveness to generate such an overwhelmingly positive reaction....This book captures beautifully Stephen's philosophy of principles. I think anyone reading it will quickly understand the enormous reaction I and others have had to Dr. Covey's teachings. -- Review

Review
The late Skip LeFauvePresident, Saturn Corporation/General MotorsStephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People played a major role in the development of Saturn's operating systems and philosophy. Our commitment to quality and to our customers has its roots in The 7 Habits.

Ken M. RadziwanowskiAT&T School of BusinessPicture someone going through the best experience they've ever had in terms of training -- that's what they say. People credit the 7 Habits with changing their lives, with getting back on track personally and professionally.

Customer Reviews

Still fresh, helpful, and important
Despite having sold many millions of copies, Stephen Covey's groundbreaking book remains as fresh, helpful, and important as when it was first published. Such longevity is a testament to the quality of the insights that Covey offers: Eschewing easy fixes and simple-minded formulas, his writings offers a comprehensive and highly detailed program for invigorating your career as well as other aspects of life. You won't be able to breeze through this book (the writing is sometimes complex and involved), and you won't be able to apply Covey's ideas half-heartedly (the vision outlined requires serious effort to realize), but if you're willing to do the work, you'll reap the enormous benefits that many other readers have discovered and put into action.

Covey's Seven Habits are a more than just a time-management or leadership strategy, they are an opportunity to review your life choices and make important changes that may help you lead a happier, more productive life. The first three habits (Be Proactive, Begin With the End in Mind, Put First Things First) are more about managing oneself and others in order to accomplish tasks and goals, but with Habits four through six (Think Win/Win, Seek First to Understand Then to Be Understood, Synergize) Covey provides 'Paradigms of Interdependence' which allow one to transform their relationship with others into a richer experience.

The Seventh Habit (Sharpen the Saw) is about personal renewal, and how to spend a small amount of time daily to work towards continual improvement. Covey wrote the book in the interest of helping people return to a principle-centered life, which was espoused by Ben Franklin and others centuries ago but has been set aside in recent years in favor of quick-fix strategies of dubious value. Seven Habits is easy to read and understand -- Covey explains each idea with plenty of examples from his own life. Covey is a member of the Mormon faith which he mentions occasionally, if you are bothered by that sort of thing, but his advice is non-denominational and is compatible with any belief-system. Seven Habits is the sort of book that can be read again and again, and can and should be saved on the shelf as a reference. Highly recommended.

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is another must-read from the success genre. I recommend it because it's had a huge impact on me, and the book's 66 emotional intelligence strategies + test are powerful and cutting edge.

This is a SUPER BOOK
Although I have read many personal development books, 7 Habits is by far the best. No hype, hoopla, pyscho-babble that is so prevalent today, however, I submit that 7 Habits will be around long after the hypsters are gone. I work in a 1,500 staff facility and 7 Habits is required reading for all management staff. I also recommend Superself, possibly one of the most underrated books out there and Financial Self Defense which in my opinion, is the financial book version of 7 Habits.

A OUTSTANDING BOOK!
Stephen Covey has written one of the best works ever in personal development and a refreshing change from so much verbage out there in other works. I have been an avid student of personal development since the 70's and learned a lot from this excellent work. I also highly recommend "SUPERSELF" by Charles Givens, another extraordinary work by an equally extraordinary man. I have read & reread Seven Habits and SuperSelf several times over the last few years and always get something new out of each every time. Excellent books to help you succeed in any area of endeavor.