Stephen R Covey, who won a global following and a five-year run on best-seller lists by fusing the genres of self-help and business literature in his 1989 book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, died on Monday at a hospital in Idaho. He was 79. The cause was complications of a bicycle accident three months back, his family said.
Covey's book sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, and also became the first audiobook to sell more than a million copies. After conferring with Covey over Thanksgiving in 1994, President Bill Clinton said American productivity would greatly increase if people followed Covey's advice.
More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies flocked to use a consulting company he had founded.
Covey was a bit baffled by his success. He said he was simply telling people what he thought they already knew: the efficacy of good behaviour. All that people had to do was form habits out of their best instincts.
"We
believe that organisational behaviour is individual behaviour
collectivized," Covey said. He expanded the lesson in 2004 in The 8th
Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness,in which he urges people to find
their own distinctive voices and to encourage others to find theirs.
Among his other books, Seven Habits for Highly Effective Families , published in 1997, advocates that families come up with mission statements. The Leader in Me, published in 2008, embodies his ideas for educational reform. His goal was to change society, he said, calling his catechism first and foremost an action plan.
Covey was a Mormon, and some saw large elements of Mormon theology in his work, though his language was ecumenical. He denied any Mormon bias in his books, saying he drew inspiration from the scriptures and from history's great thinkers.
Among his other books, Seven Habits for Highly Effective Families , published in 1997, advocates that families come up with mission statements. The Leader in Me, published in 2008, embodies his ideas for educational reform. His goal was to change society, he said, calling his catechism first and foremost an action plan.
Covey was a Mormon, and some saw large elements of Mormon theology in his work, though his language was ecumenical. He denied any Mormon bias in his books, saying he drew inspiration from the scriptures and from history's great thinkers.
In 1996, Time magazine named Stephen Covey one of the 25 most influential people, and Forbes called "Seven Habits" one of the top 10 business management books ever.
US politicians drew on Covey's advice, and one of them, Newt Gingrich asked him to help write a chapter on personal strength in American culture for a student reading in a college course Gingrich taught.
"Seven Habits" became part of the American vocabulary. Campaigning in the Iowa Republican primary last year, Mitt Romney referred to the book in offering his "seven habits for highly successful economies." Parodies have cropped up. One, published in 1996, was titled The 7 Habits of Highly Defective People: And Other Bestsellers That Won't Go Away .
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