Covey unveils The Eighth Habit for modern leadership

For many Stephen R. Covey is the top management guru of all time. His book 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' is a number one bestseller in the Middle East, and all over the world.

Imagine the air of anticipation at a darkened convention centre in Dallas, Texas last week when Dr. Covey announced that he had discovered 'The Eighth Habit'. This is almost like finding that instead of seven wonders of the ancient world, that in fact there were eight!

In a sentence, 'The Eighth Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness' is about 'finding your voice - and inspiring others to find theirs'.

Dr. Covey uses the illustration of a group of office cleaners, downtrodden and disenfranchised, who are suddenly handed the power to manage themselves.

'And do you know what they will do? They find their voice and motivate themselves. You don't have to hover over them and check up on them, and you have eliminated layers and layers of bureaucracy.'

'What people want is significance,' explains Dr. Covey, 'They want their voices to be heard.' His rationale is that we have moved from the industrial model to the age of the knowledge-worker economy, and that means that we need a new habit.

The almost 2,000 delegates to the Leaders In Dubai event this week might care to reflect on how The Eighth Habit works in the context of the Middle East. Certainly the knowledge economy is emerging here, and the same lessons can be applied.

This empowerment theory also fits with the move away from centralized control and bureaucracy and towards economic reform and greater democracy which is very much a theme of our time.

The new Stephen R. Covey book, 'The Eighth Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness' is available now from www.amazon.com, and will doubtless be another bestseller in the Middle East. For Dr. Covey will continue to inspire the region's leaders with his principle-centred thinking.