Sean Covey on updating 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'

Sean Covey, son of author Dr. Stephen Covey and original author of 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People', joins The Final Round to discuss the 30th anniversary of the book and adding modern updates to it.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: All right, welcome back to "The Final Round" here on Yahoo Finance. Myles Udland with you in New York. We are joined now by Sean Covey. He is the president of Franklin Covey, and he's the son of Dr. Stephen Covey, the author of the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." This is the 30th anniversary of that book.

Sean, you've updated the classic bestseller. You've added some your own insights to the end of each chapter. I guess let's just start by talking about why these lessons, 30 years later, continue to resonate with readers. And you know, I think about the structure of the book, and it was kind of ahead of its time. This is the way that, like, internet articles now about how to improve yourself are structured, and it feels like this book's kind of a template of sorts there.

SEAN COVEY: Sure, thanks, Myles, good to be with you and everyone. So yeah, "7 Habits" was published 30 years ago. It's been just the most incredible book, and my father was a very humble guy. He passed away a few years ago. And this book has, you know, been a bestseller for 30 years.

So the publisher came to me a while back and just said, hey, we've got the 30th anniversary edition. What if you were to add insights? And I said no way, this thing is like the Bible. You don't touch it. But then as I thought about it, I thought, you know what? These seven habits have been so impactful upon organizations of all kinds and people that maybe I could show the impact it's having.

So at the end of each chapter, I have little insights on, like, habit one, be proactive, and talk about here's some stories from organizations and from people and some teams that have been impacted by this habit and so on. So that was the end in mind.

MYLES UDLAND: Well, and thinking about this book for, you iknow, a modern reader, did you feel like you needed to update any of the habits or any of the way it was framed, given, you know, all the things that have changed in the last 30 years? Or do you actually go back and realize, you know what? Pretty much all of this holds up. I'll just add a couple of things here and there, but the overall message probably still works, you know, in today's world.

SEAN COVEY: Yeah, a little bit of both. Because it's based on timeless principles, you know, things like responsibility and hard work and integrity, renewal, that stuff sticks, right? And that's why it remains such a relevant book. But a lot of things I needed to update, so I've got a lot of stories around social media. I talk about technology use and how to use it well inside of a home and how to not let it overcome, you know, and overwhelm your home and your children. And so a little bit about some of the classic stuff and updated for some new things as well.

MYLES UDLAND: And so you-- oh, go ahead, Jen.

JEN ROGERS: I was just saying, it's really landing at an interesting time right now--

SEAN COVEY: Yeah.

JEN ROGERS: --with everybody at home. And I think when sheltering in place first started, a lot of people thought, this is the time I'm going to get better at something or become the best person. And I want to know what you think of that. Like, is this the time to sit down with a book like this and use this and become more effective, or do we have to be back in our regular lives and the regular pace of stuff so you can actually be using this in the real world?

SEAN COVEY: Yeah, I think it's a great time for this book because it is a time where you have more time, for many people. Some are finding-- most have more time for family. They're traveling less. And it's a great time to sit down. We teach in the book, you know, how to write a personal mission statement, Jen, you know, how to refine it and have a personal constitution of your own, something like that.

The book also talks a lot about sharpen the saw, which is habit seven, and how you need to never be too busy driving to take time to get gas. And we all have a heart, a mind, a body, and a soul. We have four parts, and each of them need to be renewed and restored on a regular basis. And so I think this is a-- I think it's a good time for renewal, for reflection, for choosing not to react to what's happening. And there's all kinds of silver linings that can come out of this COVID.

There's a great story about-- in 1665, Isaac Newton was in a pandemic. The Great Plague of London hit. He was at Cambridge University, 21 years old. He was sent home for a year in order to northern England. While he was there, he invented calculus and the early beginning of calculus. It never would have happened had he not taken some time like this. And I'm not saying we're going to invent calculus here, but it is a time for all of us to really contemplate, think deeply, spend more time with family, and you know, reinvent ourselves.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Sean Covey, the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," thanks so much for joining the program. We'll talk to you soon.

SEAN COVEY: Hey, thank you. Good to be with you, Myles.