Book Review: Subject - Leadership Skills Development

Title: The 8^th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
Author: Stephen R. Covey
Publisher Simon & Schuster Inc.
ISBN: 0-684-84665-9

To say I was disappointed after reading Stephen Covey's latest book, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, would not be entirely true. As a matter of fact, if you count the number of passages and quotes I highlighted in this book you would say that I was more than pleased and I must have gotten my money's worth. But in spite of that I'm just not sure if there was enough new material there for Covey to dedicate an entire book to. I was left with the impression that it was more of a marketing campaign designed to boost the sales of his earlier work, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. There are so many references made throughout the book about the seven habits that Covey should have titled his newest book "Seven Habits Revisited."

In some ways, Covey has set himself up to fail. After all, how do you top the phenomenal success of The 7 Habits? To write a classic and then try to repeat it must be akin to the rock band Boston trying to top their debut album that sold over 16 million copies when it was released in 1976. ('Oh, what a feeling' that must have been! Pun intended.)

However, there are some lessons you can learn from Covey's latest book, The 8th Habit. Covey ends each chapter with an informative Q & A section. And I like the way he brings each chapter to life by including a DVD that he encourages the reader to view before finishing one chapter and going on to the next. It's a great way to add value to this book and to visually tie a bow around each chapter's theme.

I teach management, management principals, and entrepreneurship at a business college so I am an avid reader on anything to do with leadership. Appendix 2 gives you a very good overview of the five broad approaches in leadership theories that have emerged in the twentieth century. And if you like Appendix 2 as much as I did then you have got to check out Appendix 3 and read some of the comments made about management vs. leadership from some of today's leading authorities on that subject.

I also enjoyed reading the "Twenty Most Commonly Asked Questions" starting on page 318. I like the way the book flows from one subject to the next and how Covey fills it with interesting anecdotes and quotes from some of history's most fascinating people. At times I couldn't help but think that The 8th Habit would make for a great college textbook on management and leadership.

There are some exercises scattered throughout the book that you may find amusing. I especially liked the chart on page 201 (figure 10.5) outlining his two-step process on finding what Covey calls a "third alternative". (This should be a 'must use' for anyone involved in conflict resolution and negotiating win-wins.)

However, at the end of the day, if I had to choose between buying The 7 Habits or The 8th Habit, I'd recommend saving a habit and buying 7. (Chances are you may find out that if you execute the seven well enough you may not need The 8th at all.)