PDF Summary:The 8th Habit, by Stephen R. Covey

Stephen R. Covey was a business and leadership consultant and the international bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. In The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Covey adds a habit to the original seven: finding your voice and helping others do the same. This is the habit of leadership.

The 8th Habit examines the uniqueness of the contributions we all make as human beings, arguing that the most important job of leaders is to nurture this individuality. Covey explains that most leaders fail to lead well because they’re trapped inside outdated paradigms, and he offers advice for how to escape.

In this guide, we compare Covey’s advice with that of other prominent experts on leadership and organizational structure, discuss research that supports and challenges his views, and add practical suggestions for the implementation of his ideas.

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1. Apply the intelligence of the spirit through honesty, which is a conscious commitment to truth and transparency. Practice honesty by frequently revisiting your principles and questioning whether you’re truly upholding them.

Together, these components foster trust. According to Covey, trust isn’t an individual quality—instead, he sees it as the nurturing environment needed for a relationship to flourish.

Additional Advice on Building Strong Relationships

Covey’s advice for strengthening relationships is fairly abstract. In practice, how can you build strong relationships day to day? In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath suggest that you strengthen your relationships by focusing on moments of connection with others. They offer the following three-step process:

• Create a shared moment. Invite people with a shared goal to spend time together.

• Allow for voluntary struggle. People who choose to experience hardship together form tighter bonds.

• Reconnect with the meaning of the work. Show people how what they’re doing fits into the bigger picture.

The Heaths don’t mention trust, which is central for Covey, though he doesn’t go into great detail about what it means. In The Culture Map, business professor Erin Meyer fills in some of the gaps: Meyer explains that there are two basic types of trust, and that the type you prioritize at work depends on your culture.

• In cultures in which trust is primarily task-based, such as Denmark and the United States, people who work competently and consistently are trustworthy. To build task-based trust, demonstrate to others that you’re efficient and professional. Leaders in these cultures should show that they care about their staff’s professional needs.

• In cultures in which trust is relationship-based, such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, trustworthy people are those whom you’ve spent a lot of time with or know well. To build relationship-based trust, colleagues should spend time getting to know each other, while leaders should create opportunities for staff to spend time together socially.

Part 3: The Leader

Finally, Covey focuses on how the 8th habit applies to leaders, who serve as the bridge between individuals and organizations. According to Covey, leaders in the Age of Wisdom should focus on cultivating self-control, focus, dedication, and integrity within their organizations. Instead of issuing orders from above, they should encourage team members to develop these four intelligences within themselves, thereby nurturing the team members’ own unique contributions.

(Shortform note: This focus on self-work is typical of Covey, who espouses an approach to leadership based on character rather than personality. This approach has gained popularity since Covey’s death, with research increasingly focusing on “self-leadership” or “worthy leadership.” The Worthy Leadership model, for example, has three main facets: capacity, commitment, and character.)

To do this effectively, leaders also need to develop these qualities in themselves. Covey maps the four types of intelligence onto four different roles that a leader should be able to step into as needed: the Auditor, the Navigator, the Advocate, and the Captain. The relationships between the different layers of Covey’s model (parts of the human being, types of intelligence, key components of relationships, and leadership roles) are summarized below:

Parts of the human being	Body	Mind	Heart	Spirit
Type of intelligence	Self-Control	Focus	Dedication	Integrity
Key components of relationships	Engagement	Independence	Selflessness	Honesty
Leadership roles	The Auditor	The Navigator	The Advocate	The Captain

This section discusses each of these leadership roles individually. We describe the role, give an example, and discuss one specific technique that leaders can use to improve their performance in this role.

Leadership Role 1: The Auditor

Description

The Auditor role, which Covey calls “aligning,” relates to the body of the organization and involves implementing self-control on an organizational scale. Auditors ensure that an organization’s institutions and processes are linked to the realities of the organization and the desired results. In the Auditor role, leaders ask: Do our current systems line up with our mission and strategic priorities? If not, what needs to be done to bring them in line?

(Shortform note: Higher education expert Laura Montgomery adds that reconciling strategy and reality involves three key capabilities: clear communication from senior executives, openness and trust between departments, and agile responses to changes in the external environment.)

Example

Many firms preach collaboration but have financial bonus systems that reward people who work alone. Instead, aim to build a structure that rewards interdependence. One way to do this is to allocate bonuses to the group first, based on the overall performance of the team. The bonus could then be divided among team members according to their individual contributions.

(Shortform note: Author and FutureThink founder Lisa Bodell suggests a number of other ways in which organizations can encourage collaboration. For example, DigitalOcean incentivizes collaboration by distributing gifts such as Kindles to teams that collaborate well, and PepsiCo allocates 40% of the end-of-year bonus for staff that have helped the careers of other staff members.)

Technique: Implement 360° Feedback Systems

Most people evaluate their performance based on the information that’s right in front of them. Instead of doing this, try to fill in your blind spots by seeking feedback from all directions (all 360° of the circle around you). On an individual level, this means including the evaluations of direct reports and peers as well as managers in performance evaluations. On an organizational level, this means evaluating a firm’s performance by combining information from internal financial indicators, consultations with external partners and clients, and comparisons with world-class performers.

360° Feedback: Problems and Possible Solutions

The 360° feedback approach that Covey recommends emerged and became popular in the 1990s, with a 1994 article in Fortune magazine proclaiming that it can “change your life.” However, researchers became increasingly skeptical about its effectiveness, even questioning whether it had “gone amok.” In practice, 360° feedback can also lead to feedback overload, in which people receive so much conflicting feedback that they end up disregarding all of it.

Patrick Lencioni argues in The Five Dysfunctions of a Team that 360° feedback should only be used as a tool for personal career development, separate from the formalized performance evaluation process. Another possible solution is to keep the peer performance reviews but simplify them. At Google, for example, only a small number of peers give feedback, and their feedback is limited to the employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and specific contributions. At Netflix, peer feedback is limited to what the employee should start, stop, and continue doing.

Leadership Role 2: The Navigator

Description

The Navigator role, which Covey calls “pathfinding,” relates to the mind of the organization and involves implementing focus on an organizational scale. In the Navigator role, leaders consult others about the future of the organization and plot a course forward.

The skills of Navigating include listening, distilling common values and strategic policies, and using conflict as a springboard to create new, synergistic solutions. Covey sees this as the most challenging role for many leaders.

(Shortform note: Although experts agree with Covey that listening is a core leadership skill, some researchers have also pointed out that leaders may think they’re better at listening than they actually are. This notion supports Covey’s observation that many leaders find the Navigator role to be the most difficult.)

Example

Acting as a Navigator, leaders create two types of documents that serve complementary purposes. The mission statement should answer the “why” question: It should describe the company’s vision, values, and purpose. The strategic plan outlines how the mission will be transformed into reality. The strategic plan should be time-bound and strongly grounded in stakeholder realities.

(Shortform note: A popular approach to linking these two documents is the strategic planning pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is the “why” of the organization: its vision, mission, and values. The middle of the pyramid is the “how”: the organization’s goals and high-level strategies. The bottom of the pyramid is the “what”: a plan of action for the immediate future.)

Technique: Encourage Listening by Using a “Talking Stick” Approach

To determine the best path forward, you need to know which options are available, and to determine all the available options you need to be able to listen well. To do this, Covey suggests implementing the principles of the “talking stick” in important meetings: When you’re holding the stick, you can say what you think and nobody can interrupt you.

Covey suggests that in meetings you either use a designated object for this purpose or you implement the principle with no physical object. If you’re not using an object, one strategy is to have all attendees agree from the beginning that before they state their own ideas, they must summarize the argument of the person who spoke before them. This forces everyone to pay attention and to respect perspectives that conflict with theirs.

Encourage Listening in Meetings: Advice From Radical Candor

While Covey’s talking stick approach encourages good listening, it may be time-consuming if implemented fully. In Radical Candor, Kim Scott offers the following alternative advice to ensure that all meeting attendees have a chance to speak:

• Go around the table to elicit opinions from everyone on important topics.

• Politely but firmly cut off people who are monopolizing the floor.

• Meet with attendees ahead of time to encourage the quiet team members to speak up and the louder ones to talk less.

Leadership Role 3: The Advocate

Description

The Advocate role, which Covey calls “empowering,” relates to the heart of the organization and involves implementing dedication on an organizational scale. Advocates encourage independence in members of the organization: They communicate the desired results and then trust people to develop the methods that work best to get them there. Employees who are empowered by Advocates are happier, less likely to leave the company, and more likely to use their unique gifts to come up with innovative solutions.

(Shortform note: Empowering leadership behavior has real effects on employees’ psychological well-being, creativity, and work performance. It can even improve workplace safety. The benefits may, however, vary from person to person: For example, employees with a strong desire for autonomy benefit more from empowering leadership, while employees who are under significant psychological strain may benefit less than their more relaxed counterparts.)

Example

To help people develop independence, give them the tools to self-manage and trust them to look after themselves. For example, consider giving staff more freedom to manage their own schedules, deadlines, and work processes. This can be difficult for some managers, as they think it means relinquishing control. But if you look at the whole picture, control isn’t lost—it’s simply redistributed. External control becomes self-control.

(Shortform note: In No Rules Rules, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says that empowering employees by eliminating controls helped establish a culture that allowed the company to innovate and thrive in a rapidly changing industry. One way he did this was by eliminating the vacation leave policy: Instead of allotting staff a set number of vacation days, Netflix allows unlimited vacation days while prioritizing clear communication about the needs of the team. For example, a manager might request that team members avoid taking time off close to an important deadline, or might ask employees with similar responsibilities to make sure they won’t be away at the same time.)

Technique: Flipped Performance Evaluations

Covey suggests that managers can advocate for employees by asking direct reports to evaluate them, instead of the other way around. In addition to the flipped performance evaluation, he recommends asking questions such as:

• Are you happy? Why/Why not?
• What would you like to do next?
• What do you need?

Shake Up the Performance Review Process

Research shows that nearly everyone hates performance reviews—even people who are strongly motivated to improve. And they may not be useful for organizations, either: Performance reviews can be expensive, unnecessarily antagonistic processes that leave employees and managers feeling bad.

Covey’s suggestion to flip performance evaluations isn’t the only option: Leaders could also consider moving toward a broader “culture of compassionate evaluation,” in which employees receive gentle feedback on an ongoing basis. Another option is to invert the typical structure of review meetings by asking employees to provide a self-assessment at the beginning of the meeting.

Leadership Role 4: The Captain

Description

The Captain role, which Covey calls “modeling,” relates to the spirit of the organization and involves implementing integrity on an organizational scale. In the Captain role, leaders set an example that others can identify with and be inspired by. Captains need to demonstrate versatility by showing their staff how they inhabit the other three leadership roles.

Setting an example is at the center of all leadership. If people identify with you, your vision, and the way you do things, they’ll become involved of their own volition.

(Shortform note: In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, leadership expert John Maxwell argues that modeling desirable behaviors is much more effective than talking about them. Followers find it easy to copy leaders but often struggle to keep an abstract vision for the future in mind. Maxwell adds that leading by example is especially important in times of uncertainty.)

Example

Covey suggests that you choose a tiny part of your job and resolve to do it in an extraordinary way. What happens if you introduce a “wow factor” into something mundane?

(Shortform note: One way to add extra spark to everyday tasks is gamification. Turning parts of your job into a game—or, if you’re the head of a team, adapting parts of others’ jobs into games—increases motivation, builds healthy ambition, and makes negative feedback feel less personal.)

Technique: Encourage Individual Initiative

Covey recommends that leaders govern with a light touch, encouraging their team members to practice stepping into all four leadership roles. As an example, he describes seven possible levels of initiative that each team member can take. The most appropriate level depends on their position, the work environment, and the task at hand.

1. Obey instructions. This is the most passive level. It applies when you’re considering a certain action, but it isn’t officially your job and you don’t want to ruffle any feathers.
2. Show curiosity. A well-considered question can show others that you understand the issue without putting undue pressure on them.
3. Make a suggestion. To avoid wasting managers’ time, it’s important that the suggestion is as complete and well-considered as possible. Covey suggests the Doctrine of Completed Staff Work, a set of guidelines used in the military, as an example of taking initiative on this level.
4. Communicate an intention. This applies when you have the resources to generate a solution but lack the power to authorize it.
5. Act independently and inform others straight away. This applies when you’re authorized to take a particular action and the action directly affects others.
6. Act independently and inform others as needed. This level applies when something is within your job description and is relevant to others but doesn’t directly affect them.
7. Get on with it. This level applies when something is your job and doesn’t affect others in a meaningful way.

The Benefits of Distributed Leadership in Military Contexts

Covey developed his hierarchy of initiative (especially level #4) from his experience on the submarine of L. David Marquet, a captain in the US Navy. Marquet trained his staff to independently analyze a situation, develop a solution, prepare to implement the solution themselves, and then approach him and state “I intend to…” Marquet would either approve the action or ask questions to trace the officer’s thought process. Marquet describes this “leader-leader model” in his book Turn the Ship Around! By training his overly passive staff to think for themselves, Marquet turned the worst-performing submarine in the Navy into one of the best-performing within a year.

The benefits of distributed leadership and the disadvantages of centralized command and control are also apparent in the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Russia’s military failures occurred in part because of the highly centralized, hierarchical nature of the Russian military. The Russians’ centralized systems were pitted against the Ukrainian military’s “mission-style” command and control, in which individual soldiers are empowered to make decisions on the fly. As former Ukrainian Minister of Defense Andriy Zagorodnyuk remarks, when centralized control goes wrong, soldiers can’t adapt to unexpected situations, “and you get things like 40-mile-long traffic jams outside of Kyiv.”

Conclusion: Service Leadership

Covey emphasizes that Habit 8 is underpinned by the idea of service. When practicing Habit 8, you serve others through your unique contribution and by helping others make theirs. On an individual level, personal growth and a service orientation create a virtuous cycle: Character-oriented personal growth naturally leads to an increased focus on service, while a service mindset cultivates humility and personal growth. On an interpersonal level, a service mindset improves and strengthens relationships. And on a collective level, the purpose of all organizations is to serve the community in some way.

In the Age of Wisdom, business organizations and their leaders will be guided by the principle of “service above self.” In doing this, they’ll assume an increasing amount of social responsibility. Wise leaders understand that mature freedom isn’t freedom from something—instead, it’s the freedom to serve the community and the members of your organization, express yourself with integrity, and offer your unique contribution to the world.

The Origins and Benefits of Service Leadership

The service leadership orientation dovetails with Covey’s personal belief system: Service leadership, also known as “servant leadership,” underpins many cultural and religious leadership traditions. This style of leadership, in which the leader sees their most important function as serving others, entered the formal leadership literature in 1970 with Robert Greenleaf’s essay The Servant as Leader.

Service leadership has a range of benefits, including improved individual and team performance, especially in creativity and innovation; more altruistic and proactive employee behavior; increased collaboration and knowledge sharing; greater employee job satisfaction and psychological well-being; better customer service; and an increased sense of corporate social responsibility. Service leadership also increases employees’ trust in a leader, which (in Covey’s view) is the basis for all relationships in the organization.