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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  By  cover art

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

By: Stephen R. Covey
Narrated by: Stephen R. Covey
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Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller - over 40 million copies sold

The number one Most Influential Business Book of the 20th century

One of the most inspiring and impactful books ever written, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has captivated listeners for nearly three decades. It has transformed the lives of presidents and CEOs, educators and parents - millions of people of all ages and occupations. Now, this 30th anniversary edition of the timeless classic commemorates the wisdom of the 7 Habits with modern additions from Sean Covey. The 7 Habits have become famous and are integrated into everyday thinking by millions and millions of people. Why? Because they work!

With Sean Covey’s added takeaways on how the habits can be used in our modern age, the wisdom of the 7 Habits will be refreshed for a new generation of leaders. They include:

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Habit 4: Think Win/Win

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Habit 6: Synergize

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

This beloved classic presents a principle-centered approach for solving both personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and practical anecdotes, Stephen R. Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity - principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

©2002 Franklin Covey Co.

Critic reviews

"When Stephen Covey talks, executives listen." (Dun's Business Month)

What listeners say about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Doesn't replace the book

I often choose audio books because they're books I want to read but haven't yet. "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is one of those books; I have the book at home, but got busy and haven't yet read beyond the first few chapters.

This was also my first abridged audio book, and in retrospect I would have saved my money and made more time to read the original book; this abridged recording doesn't do the book justice.

The author's reading is only so-so. He reads with many pauses -- probably done to emphasize thoughts and ideas -- but rather than add to the material they just interrupt it a lot.

There are also musical "interludes" between chapters read by a second reader -- a "host" if you will -- that remind me of those TV shows that open with "When we last saw our hero..." This device doesn't always work for TV shows, and I don't think it works here; it just serves as another interruption.

The book version of "The 7 Habits" has diagrams that help illustrate points, and although I'm sure this audio book contains the essence of the book, it's definitely more a supplement than a replacement for it -- I'd recommend spending your money on a hard copy.

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86 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

helpful, but...

Covey's book may very well be the best advice book ever written, but I found it un-listenable. I gave up very early in the book. He would have better served his audiobook audience by hiring a professional reader.

I have not had the privilege of attending a lecture or symposium given by him, so I can't relate this recording to his live performance. This book does not lend itself to the live-recording medium. It must be delivered with feeling and understanding by someone experienced in recording written works.

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Long Time 7 habits Follower

This is a response to those whom think that Dr. Covey narrating his own book is not doing the material justice. Are you really seriously critiquing the way the author chooses to deliver his material to others? Buy the book then listen to Dr. Covey deliver his message in a different and more powerful way. Why should an digital audio representation of material published several years ago be simply the same? Perhaps you should consider the potential for further examination. What a treat Dr. Covey. Thank you for taking the time.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Annoying...

This is a very annoying version of the book. The "classical music interludes" introducing the next section are irritating, and disrupt the flow of the reading. Perhaps an unabridged version would have seemed more useful, but this version dealt with topics at a ridiculously high level.
I'm not an "executive" type person, so...maybe this sort of information is useful to those guys, but...as an engineer, I found the book so impracticle it was useless. Furthermore, if Covey's definition of effective is not what you are looking for, there really isn't much point in reading this book. I'm not sure there was ever a solid definition of what effectiveness is. It was defined as NOT the executive who is fantastically successful and wealthy, but has no family life. I completely agree that family life is probably even more important than any business relationship, but as the book touts itself as beig respected by "business executives", one would imagine it would have some useful content for those in the workplace.
Again, perhaps the full version is much better, or perhaps the book just does not lend itself to being listened to as opposed to read, but...i found this audio version tedius and pretty useless...

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

I've read the book, use this as a refresher!

I've read the book a few years ago and intended to get this audiobook as a refresher, or should I say, to sharpen my saw. I find it interesting how I've missed out on some of the important points in the book. The print version carries plenty of life learning experiences, both from his own and from others. This audiobook carries with it a good concised lot of those experiences.

The piano musical pieces that fill gaps (that allow listeners to write things down) are a little annoying. Imagine listening through that while driving, even if it's 10 seconds. But, that's just me.

Other than that, I find this a pretty darn good abridged version, that is highly suitable to anyone who wish to renew their efforts to become more effective. As for the first-timers of The 7 Habits, I'd say, try the un-abridged version. You can't be efficient and effective at the same time. Read the book, or listen to the unabridged version, and you'll know what I mean.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • BC
  • 11-30-07

Good Lessons, painful to listen to

Strong lessons for certain types of people. However, the reader is painful to listen to, the music is odd and this could probably be condensed into bullet/subullet form and should only take about 2 pages to go through.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Life changing!

This is an excellent audiobook. The 7 habits are timeless principles and I found all of them true! Covey is doing an excellent job with describing a way to turn our life around. I bought the cassettes 5 years ago at Borders at the WTC and I've listened to it around 20 times! It's rich! It's inspiring! It's true! Covey is one of the great men of our time!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

must read

5/5 on content..although author speaks little slow and monotonously..you can make up for it by listening at 1.25x

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This is well done

I read the book several years ago. As one who usually does not like abridged titles, I was presently surprised that this recording had enough to fulfill my expectations. It was a good review for me and provided some key concepts to remember and adapt.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Rambling. Sucks as an audiobook.

Rambling. Very hard to follow. Probably works well as a book that you read but sucks as an audiobook.

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3 people found this helpful