We’re pleased to bring you a guest post by Taavo Godtfredsen, Executive producer for the Skillsoft Leadership Development Channel™.
By Taavo Godtfredsen
I first heard the news of Stephen Covey’s passing while on the phone with a CEO who shared how he had just finished reading the seminal business book of our time The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People − which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide since its debut in 1989 − for the third time. He shared with me how he reads The 7 Habits every 10 years and gets something different from the book each time to guide him. After hanging up the phone, I sat quietly and reflected on the several occasions I was fortunate to collaborate with him for our Leadership Development Channel. The first few interactions with him were for our live events and another, the most memorable, was flying to Provo, Utah to film him discussing each of the 8 Habits and The High Cost of Low Trust. These clips, year-in and year-out, continue to be our most viewed programs on our service and speak to just how timeless his principles truly are.
I will always remember Dr. Covey for someone who truly “practiced what he preached” and he was as brilliant as he was kind and had a wonderful tranquility about him. I believe what he has taught us the most, in business and in life, how we are truly the master of our own destiny, and we can choose to lead a life of principles. I can see him now raising each of his arms, making a fist in each hand (one fist representing stimulus the other response), and slowly striking them together, and saying as he has many times before:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.”
Dr. Covey will certainly be missed but his legacy will live on!
Learn more:
If you’re an LDC subscriber, login to view some of Dr. Covey’s most popular QuickTalks:
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 1: Be Proactive
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 3: Put First Things First
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 4: Think Win/Win
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then be Understood
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 6: Synergize
QuickTalks: Stephen Covey: Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
Stephen had a tremendous impact not only on my life, but through me, on the lives of those I had the privilege to lead. It started indirectly, when, after a period of reflection and tough going I discovered the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The overall approach of private victory then public victory, describing our growth as proceeding from dependence through independence to interdependence struck me as incredibly simple yet powerful. I applied what I learned to my life immediately.
Later, when assigned to command the USS Santa Fe, I applied his 7 Habits approach at the organizational level. I gave every officer and chief who reported a copy of his book. We would have seminars discussing the various habits and the application of those habits made Santa Fe a more effective submarine.
It turned out that Stephen was doing some work for the navy and learned about what we were doing on Santa Fe. He expressed an interest in riding the ship and the navy set it up. We were scheduled to conduct a one-day transit from the port of Lahaina on the neighboring island of Maui back to Pearl Harbor. This would be a perfect time for him to ride. It was also when we had set up a family member cruise and were expecting about 80 family members to ride as well.
I was apprehensive about having both events at the same time. I thought the presence of the family members would present a distorted picture of how Santa Fe operated. Further, I wasn’t sure how I’d appropriately apportion my time between running Santa Fe, Stephen, and the family members.
It worked out perfectly! Stephen was working on a book for families and held a special talk just for the family members. His message was that they played a critically important role in the success of the ship and placed high value on family. It was a win-win.
Stephen spent the entire day onboard, talking with crew members, looking through the periscope and driving the ship. He was tremendously interested in the people, and how they worked together. Everyone he talked to felt better about themselves afterward, especially me.
He remained interested in how Santa Fe did and was happy to hear of the subsequent successes the ship had, including the selection of 9 of the officers for submarine command. I was honored that he included USS Santa Fe in his book, The Eight Habit, and agreed to write the foreword to Turn the Ship Around!
Posted by: Ldavidmarquet | August 10, 2012 at 09:56 AM
How can I subscribe and listen to QuickTalks: Stephen Covey. Thanks, Elsa
Posted by: Elsu | August 08, 2012 at 03:37 PM