I have read and re-read "The seven habits of highly effective people" for well over a decade and still aim to teach and live the basic principles, I've taught hundreds of police officers the principles of effective leadership contained in the Covey effective management programme and police staff and officers the key habits for personal effectiveness. It is with some sadness and a great deal of admiration that I reflect on and consider the contribution of Stephen Covey to our understanding and application of what it means to exhibit principle centred leadership after the announcement of his death two days ago.
Although some have taken the principles on which the seven habits were founded and turned them into facile "management speak"- trendy phrases that can be trotted out much like David Brent might in the sitcom "the office", this in my view does not negate the fact they they are founded on central "truths" which much like the law of gravity effect our leadership whether we acknowledge them or not.
For me, beginning with the end in mind (habit two) has been and is central to my understanding of not only leadership but what it means to live a good life. What sort of leader do I want to be? What sort of life do I want to create? Who or what is worthy of my allegiance? What do I truly value? I was recently at a leadership conference at the University of Exeter in which one of the speakers said there are two great days in our lives: the day we were born, and the day we find out why. Being purposeful and creating a leadership style that reflects what is most important to us is in my view the way to leading an authentic life. This habit of vision as Stephen called it, often translated into tired vision statements adorning office walls, has the power to be the driving force behind our leadership and the means by which we balance and manage our energies in the most creative and life affirming way (quite simply authentic leadership really is the most energy effective).
Perhaps this is how Stephen Covey was able to teach and influence the lives of so many heads of state even into his eighties- he had a clear sense of the legacy he wanted to leave. He was clear about his life purpose to teach, train and raise up leaders to (in the language of the eighth habit) "find his voice and enable others to find theirs".
I accept and acknowledge that many have criticised the Covey principles finding them "superficial" and it is of course easy to trot out phrases such as "let's go for a win/win on this one" or "we'll synergies to realise"- but this does not in my view negate the fact that we need to look out for the interests of others as well as our own and that when we do things usually work out better or that when we genuinely listen to the contribution that others make even others very different to ourselves our solutions can be qualitatively better than any solution we could dream up on our own (the essence of synergy).
The simple truth is when we base our lives and our leadership on timeless principles, such as seek first to understand rather than to be understood (habit five) or pay attention to the reality of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of what it means to be truly human (habit seven) we find that we experience a richer and fuller life and become more compelling in our leadership. I think Stephen Covey was right to assert that what we need is not a map but a compass- the territory changes, but true North is always the same.
I am personally grateful for the legacy that Stephen has left me, I trust that I will make my unique contribution as he did, that I will be less concerned about the details of the map but more concerned with the direction of my travel, that in my relationship with others I will build authentically, respectfully and that I will treat myself and others with an awe that reflects and honours the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical reality of what it means to be fully human. Above all, I hope that I will leave a legacy that points others to greatness as he has done.
