Covey earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of Utah, an MBA from Harvard University, and a Doctor of Religious Education (DRE) from Brigham Young University. He also holds membership of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity. He has been awarded ten honorary doctorates.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey's best-known book, has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide since its first publication in 1989. (The audio version became the first non-fiction audio-book in U.S. publishing history to sell more than one million copies.) Covey argues against what he calls "The Personality Ethic", something he sees as prevalent in many modern self-help books. He instead promotes what he labels "The Character Ethic": aligning one’s values with so-called "universal and timeless" principles. Covey adamantly refuses to conflate principles and values; he sees principles as external natural laws, while values remain internal and subjective. Covey proclaims that values govern people’s behavior, but principles ultimately determine the consequences. Covey presents his teachings in a series of habits, manifesting as a progression from dependence via independence to interdependence.

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Take initiative in life by realizing your decisions (and how they align with life's principals) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Taking responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow.

• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Synopsis: Self-discover and clarify your deeply important character values and life goals. Envisioning the ideal characteristics for each of your various roles and relationships in life.

• Habit 3: Put First Things First

Synopsis: Planning, prioritizing, and executing your week's tasks based on importance rather than urgency. Evaluating if your efforts exemplify your desired character values, propel you towards goals, and enrich the roles and relationships elaborated in Habit 2.

• Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Synopsis: Genuinely striving for mutually beneficial solutions or agreements in your relationships. Valuing and respecting people by understanding a "win" for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had gotten their way.

• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

Synopsis: Using empathetic listening to be genuinely influenced by a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening, take an open mind to being influenced by you, which creates an atmosphere of caring, respect, and positive problem solving.

• Habit 6: Synergize

Synopsis: Combining the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person could have done alone. How to yield the most prolific performance out of a group of people through encouraging meaningful contribution, and modeling inspirational and supportive leadership.

• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Synopsis: The balancing and renewal of your resources, energy, and health to create a sustainable long-term effective lifestyle.

- allow yourself to grow by maintaining a balanced program in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.

Follow-ups to The Seven Habits

Follow-up titles to The Seven Habits aim both to add to the original and to form a cohesive philosophy on personal, principle-based leadership. They come in the format of audio books as well (such as the title Beyond The 7 Habits). Covey has also written a number of learning-books for children. His son, Sean Covey, has written a version for teens: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens. This version simplifies Covey's 7 habits in order for younger readers to better understand them.

The 8th Habit

In 2004, Covey's book From Effectiveness to Greatness was published. It functions as the sequel to The Seven Habits. Covey claims that effectiveness does not suffice in what he calls "The Knowledge Worker Age". He proclaims that "[t]he challenges and complexity we face today are of a different order of magnitude." The 8th habit essentially urges: "Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs..."

The Leader In Me

In November 2008, Covey released a new book The Leader in Me...How Schools and Parents Around the World are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. This book tells the story of how extraordinary schools, parents and business leaders are preparing the next generation to meet the great challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. The Leader in Me shows how one elementary school in Raleigh, North Carolina decided to try incorporating The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and other basic leadership skills into their school’s curriculum in unique and creative ways. Inspired by the amazing success of Principal Muriel Summers and the teachers and staff of A.B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, other schools and parents around the world have adopted the approach and have seen remarkable results.

FranklinCovey

Covey established the "Covey Leadership Center" which, in 1997, merged with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey, a global professional-services firm and specialty-retailer selling both training and productivity-tools to individuals and to organizations. Their mission statement reads: "We enable greatness in people and organizations everywhere".

In 2009, Covey launched a career development webinar series to help people struggling in the economic downturn. He plans to offer timely and current topics on a regular basis.

The Stephen Covey Online Community

In March 2008 Covey launched the Stephen Covey's Online Community. The site is a mash up of online courses, goal management and social networking. Covey uses it as a place to teach his most recent thoughts and ideas on current topics and self leadership, his books as well as goal setting and reaching. The content is shared via videos, podcasts, printable text and online activities. Users are also able to set personal goals, track their progress and share their progress with others within the community.

Utah State University

In February 2010, Covey announced his hire as a professor and first incumbent of the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership at the Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. Huntsman and Covey are longtime friends. At USU, he will teach courses, perform research, and is also helping to establish the Stephen R. Covey Center for Leadership, in order to better train students in innovation and ethics.

Education initiatives

Covey has developed his 2008 book The Leader In Me into several education-related projects. On April 20, 2010 he made his first post to an education blog entitled Our Children and the Crisis in Education which appears on the Huffington Post news and blog-aggregation website. FranklinCovey has also established a website dedicated exclusively to the Leader In Me concept, and it holds periodic conferences and workshops to train elementary school administrators who want to integrate the Leader In Me process into their school's academic culture.

Family

Covey lives with his wife Sandra and their family in Provo, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, where Dr. Covey taught prior to the publication of his best-selling book. A father of nine and a grandfather of fifty-two with his wife, he received the Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative in 2003.

Religion

Covey is a practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a two-year mission in England for the LDS Church. In July 1962, Covey served as the first president of the Irish Mission of the Church starting in July 1962.

When Covey studied as an MBA student at Harvard, he would on occasion go and preach to crowds on Boston Common.

Covey has authored several devotional works for Latter-day Saint or Mormon readers, including:

• Spiritual Roots of Human Relations (1970)
• The Divine Center (1982)
• 6 Events: The Restoration Model for Solving Life's Problems (2004).

Evangelical writer Bill Gordon suggests that Mormon theology and cultural practices undergird Covey's writing for a general audience. Covey says he "never introduces religion or politics into his books or worldwide seminars".