Stephen Covey - Collected Quotes

"Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do)." (Stephen R Covey & Warren Bennis, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." (Stephen R Covey & Warren Bennis, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"Our behavior is a function of our decisions, not our conditions." (Stephen R Covey & Warren Bennis, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"We see the world, not as it is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it." (Stephen R Covey & Warren Bennis, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", 1989)

"In effective personal leadership, visualization and affirmation techniques emerge naturally out of a foundation of well thought through purposes and principles that become the center of a person's life." (Stephen Covey, "Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People", 1994)

"Management is clearly different from leadership. Leadership is primarily a high-powered, right-brain activity. It's more of an art it's based on a philosophy. You have to ask the ultimate questions of life when you're dealing with personal leadership issues. (Stephen Covey, "Daily Reflections for Highly Effective People", 1994)

"You basically get what you reward. If you want to achieve the goals and reflect the values in your mission statement, then you need to align the reward system with these goals and values." (Stephen Covey, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Personal Workbook", 2000)

"Values are social norms - they're personal, emotional, subjective, and arguable. All of us have values. [...] The question you must ask yourself is, Are your values based upon principles? In the last analysis, principles are natural laws - they're impersonal, factual, objective and self-evident. Consequences are governed by principles and behavior is governed by values; therefore, value principles." (Stephen R Covey, "The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness", 2004)

"Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out." (Stephen Covey)

"Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall." (Stephen R Covey)

"Management works in the system; Leadership works on the system." (Stephen R. Covey)