Stephen R. Covey

Stephen R. Covey was the author of the best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Other books he wrote include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and The 8th Habit. In 2008, Covey released The Leader In Me — How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time, a book written for teachers and administrators who use the 7 Habits ubiquitously in their curriculum to create a leadership program for kids of all ages, so they can be more effective, more goal oriented, and more successful.

Stephen earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and he went on to become a professor of Organizational Behavior at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey's best-known book, has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 1989. Covey argues against what he calls "The Personality Ethic," something he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He promotes what he labels "The Character Ethic": aligning one’s values with "universal and timeless" principles. Covey adamantly refuses to conflate principles and values; he sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. Covey proclaims that values govern people's behavior, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence via independence to interdependence