Management guru Stephen Covey talks of how trust can be rebuilt in a time of global crisis

IN 1989, the world was a different place.

The use of commercial email had just been authorised for the first time and Google was still nearly a decade in the future. It was only a privileged few who had begun using cell phones, and global communication was still a cumbersome process. Reality TV had not yet become mainstream.

Connectivity and supply-chain were concepts still in the future, and Japanese management techniques were still on the periphery. India had produced only two crowned international beauty queens in all of history. We had not yet emerged as a world technology leader and were still struggling with the License Raj, looking anxiously to the West for direction in literature, fashion and social values.

It was at this time that Stephen Covey's new concepts caught the fancy of people round the world, and from the author of a brilliant and useful book he became, almost overnight, one of the great gurus of self help, and a sought-after personal-growth trainer for corporates. His book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People went from bestseller to bible to cliche.

Many of the most widely accepted concepts of effective management today including "prioritisation", being "proactive", achieving "synergy" and "win-win" stem from Covey's movement. They continue to be preached and valued, even two decades later in today's much-changed environment.

This book transcends what it calls "the personality ethic", something that instructs us on issues like making eye contact, using people's names while talking to them, and making sure to wish everyone we know on their birthdays. It promotes, instead, "the character ethic" through a set of clearly-defined principles.
To read this book is to enjoy and appreciate it. To put its principles to work is to experience a new and uplifting energy and clarity.

Today, at 77, Dr Covey continues to spread his creed through structured workshops all over the world. He talks with Sunday MiD DAY in an exclusive phone interview. Excerpts:

Did you draw on any particular religious theory or religious experience to produce this book?
No, I did not. But I studied for my PhD in Religious Education. Each of the seven principles in my book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is based on universal and timeless concepts which every religion preaches. I could see that in these lay the solutions to many of the world's problems.
Today, in this economic downturn, it's more than ever important to learn to internalise these principles and use them to manage ourselves at an individual level. They can empower groups of people inside our organisations, and we must allow them to permeate the entire culture of our organisations.
Be proactive. Begin with the end in mind. Put first things first. Think win-win. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Synergise. And always work to sharpen these skills."