The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

Upfront, I'll admit to being a big fan of Stephen Covey. That said, I wouldn't consider myself a disciple or anything and I think I can write an objective review. This is without a doubt, life changing material for those who are ready to understand it. The 8th Habit is all about taking us from independence to interdependance on a whole new level.

I found it to be particularly relevant for today's world and today's challenges. I'd definitely recommend it.

I am a professional leadership teacher and speaker. I have studied leadership for 10 years. Once every few years a book comes along that raises the understanding of even the most avid student of leadership. This book accomplishes that task and more. Honestly, I have found most of Stephen's books since 7 Habits to be somewhat prosaic. This book is something entirely different. I urge you to not just get the audio version, though. Invest in the book and then digest the book. The re-reads contain many defining moments for students, parents and business leaders.

Inspirational stuff as usual from Stephen Covey. No short cuts, no quick fixes but some great advice on how to achieve great things. Not just thought-provoking, also action-provoking, a guidebook for living. Covey also has a good voice for delivering his work which makes the book very enjoyable listening.

I liked the Seven Habits so much that I listened to the audio book twice and read the book once, so I was really looking forward to the 8th Habit. Unfortunately, it was so bad that it hurt my respect for Covey. First off, as other's have noted, it's a watered down rehash of the 7 Habits coupled with lots of nebulous talk about "finding your voice". Second, half the time I had no idea what he was talking about as the book is so laden with meaningless business speak (working at a higher level, exercising true leadership, finding a new paradigm, coping with the knowledge worker age and on and on and on). By now, I have Covey's (preachy) formula down pat: 1. read a vignette (in an overly earnest fashion) about some mystery individual overcoming adversity, 2. talk about how it fits some numbered principle, 3. relate the principle to the teachings of the great books and minds of yesteryear and 4. invent a cute little word pneumonic to go with it (intimate means "look into me"). I would recommend sticking with 7 Habits and never touching this book. Another good book in this area that's high on substance and low on fluff-speak (as in zero fluff-speak) is Man's Search for Meaning, probably the best book I've read in the "learn about life" category. Actually, I've moved completely away from books written by self styled "leadership" teachers and into biographies about leaders handling difficult situations (The Last Lion (Churchill), Lincoln, Washington, etc.). I've learned about a hundred times more about life and humanity from Founding Brothers and Team of Rivals than I did from this book. Thumbs down.

Phenomenally good book. Certainly the best 'self improvement' book I've read in the past few years. Covey has really done taken his work to a new level of excellence.

If you read "the seven habits" and expect a quantum leap in coveys thinking, you might be disappointed. it's more a modernization of his previous book. if you are new to covey this is a good place to start

Dr. Covey has done it again! He has distilled the wisdom of centuries of philosophy and religion with the pace of rapid changes since "The 7 Habits" was originally published.

"Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs." Achieving this habit requires total integration of your self, a skill that is always being developed. It relies on, and intertwines throughout the seven habits of effectiveness like a DNA helix or spiral staircase.

I had already bought a hard copy of the 8th Habit by the time I was halfway through the audiobook. I just had to digest some of Covey's brilliant but common sense ideas through my eyes and not just my ears.

The 7 habits are a great ground work and will take most of us from behaving like misguided idiots to having meaning and direction ... the 8th habit teaches us how to apply the 7 habits in such a concentrated way that we'll blow the socks off of everyone around us.

By Darcy Rezac, Author: Work the Pond! I teach Leadership and The Secrets of Positive Networking. This is the best book on Leadership since Koestenbaum. Not only does Covey summarize key works on Leadership, he summarizes his own 7 habits. The power of finding your voice, stepping out of your comfort zone and empowering others to do the same is awesome. Covey's best book.

I'm a fan of Covey. I loved the 7 habits, and was excited to hear about the 8th habit, which I thought would help me inspire and encourage others. This book is just a review of the 7 habits, though. One explanation of the habits was enough.