How Schools Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness

This second edition exceeded my expectation! Just another contribution as to why Dr. Steven R. Covey deserves to considered one of the best educators and leadership authors. Just brilliant to fuse the highly acclaimed "7 Habits" concept to K-12 education that result in outstanding learning outcomes! Should be required reading for parents, Broads, administrator and committed faculty!

Joseph Koppel, PhD

I purchased this book because our school was going to be using this program this fall. I felt that if I got it before our training it would be beneficial. The book was in great shape and I received it way before the time I was given. Great book that would benefit any one interested in bettering their or their childrens lives.

While the idea behind this book is fantastic, the HOW of it is what I wanted more of. Give me a clear cut plan please! The gist of it was there but just hard to find without wading through additional information that wasn't necessary.

A sad and sorry attempt to change education from an academic institution into a social experiment. The responsibility of turning children into responsible citizens belongs to families, not educators. In addition, the principles presented by Covey are lifted directly from his previous book, The Divine Center, which is a treatise on the basics of being a good Mormon. I do not want our schools teaching all children how to be good Mormons.

I love the 7 habits, I purchased this book because I want to start using it in my classroom next school year, I wanted a guide to help me. I felt like most of the chapters in this book were sales pitches. It's a good book if you are thinking about trying it. If you know you are trying it the first few chapters are helpful and worth the read.

Over my lifetime this is the 3rd 7 habits books I have read. I am a fan. I teach kindergarten and introduced my students to the program toward the end of school. The students loved it, and so did my principal! I am now planning to go with 7 habits to manage my classroom. I have my Class Dojo has been set up with the 7 habits for the next school year! Now I am in the process of listing the events and expectations in the school day and matching them to the corresponding habit. For example nap time is sharpening the saw.

I bought this book because I wanted a guide to help me get all set up and ready to go. Help me dot my eyes and cross my t`s. While I got useful information from this book, I wanted more!

The subtitle of this book explains it all: “How Schools Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time”. I first heard of The Leader in Me at the college I work at, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. The book was discussed as well as the seven basic habits, but not much detail was given. I then heard about The Leader in Me again this year as it is being used at the school my children attend. When I was given the opportunity to review this audiobook, I jumped at the chance to learn more about what The Leader in Me entails.

In the Leader in Me, there are basically seven habits which are briefly explained at the beginning. The habits are as follows:

Habit 1 – Be Proactive
Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3 – Put First Things First
Habit 4 – Think Win-Win
Habit 5 – Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood
Habit 6 – Synergize
Habit 7 – Sharpen the Saw

After the introduction of these habits, the rest of the audiobook focused on how well different schools implemented these habits and how it made a difference in the lives of the students. I eagerly anticipated the section on how to apply this at home and at the college level so I could work on it with my own children and college students. Sadly both of these sections were very brief. It did mention a book called Seven Habits of Happy Kids by Sean Covey. I checked this out from the library and brought it home last night. All of my kids said they’ve already read it at school and were eager to read it again which was very interesting. Seven Habits of Happy Kids focuses on stories that involve the seven habits with a parents note on the end with discussion points for your kids and ways to implement the habits. More information about the Leader in Me and tips can be found at: [...]

From listening to the audiobook, I learned overall that the system works great, but not how to actually implement it. I gathered that your school has to sign up basically for training on how to implement it school wide. I’m not sure how that works on a college level. I was happy to learn what the Leader in me was all about, but sad that there weren’t more practical applications of it in this audiobook.

Fred Sanders was a good narrator of the audiobook and it was very interesting to listen to on my daily commute and while I was working on chores.

My favorite part of the audiobook was actually a story towards the end about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan. It basically described how Sullivan was able to use the leadership principals in her own life to make a success and was able to teach these principles to Helen Keller. I was fascinated and would actually love to listen to an audiobook all about that!

Overall, The Leader in Me is a very informative audiobook that describes how the seven leadership habits are working in schools around the world, but doesn’t provide the practical insights on how to apply them.

Title: The Leader in Me (2nd Edition)
Author: Stephen R. Covey, Sean Covey, Muriel Summers, and David K. Hatch
Read by: Fred Sanders
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: Approximately 8 hours and 45 minutes
Source: Simon & Schuster Audio Digital Review Copy – Thank-you!

The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child At a TimeReview by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD.

Stephen R. Covey's book, The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time, is designed primarily for educators, however, in addition to principals and teachers, parents of elementary-school students, mentors, parent helpers, Sunday Schools, and church ministries will find it valuable as well. About half of it is devoted to elementary-school case studies. The foundation of the book is the 7 habits (1) Be proactive, 2) Begin with the end in mind, 3) Put first things first, 4) Think win-win, 5) Seek first to understand. Then be understood, 6) Synergize, and 7) Sharpen the saw), and references to the 7 Habits website are frequent. It is, however, written for the layman (without technical jargon), numerous examples are provided, the plan is positive and affirming, and the ideas are practical and implementable. Chapter 8, "Making It Happen, One Step at A Time," covers the 4 imperatives of leadership: 1) Inspire trust, 2) Clarify Purpose, 3) Align systems, and 4) Unleash talent. This is a book designed for a specific readership, but for that readership, it is well worth reading.

If you, as a parent, teacher, or mentor, are interested in fostering your child's growth in every aspect, then this book is incredibly helpful in doing so. The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child At a Time has real-life examples of case studies, such as the focus on A.B. Combs Elementary with over 800 students who represent 58 countries and 27 languages. With the strategy of "Developing Leaders One Child at a Time" they based their principles in both the 7 Habits and the Baldrige Program (see: [...] In this book there are implementable ideas for not only teachers and programs of involvement and leadership for children, but ways as a parent you could come up with similar practices at home and with the family doing outreach and community projects.

In the "Aligning for Success" chapter, you find practices taught to the children and many acronyms for education. If you read Malcolm Gladwell's most recent book Outliers: The Story of Success some of these things will sound familiar to you already. In the "Unleashing a Culture of Leadership" chapter, you'll see some ideas of traditions to incorporate, like: Leadership Day, Inaugural Ball, International Festival, Silver-Tray Luncheon, Service Projects and Celebrate Success Day. There are, of course, a lot of evidence from other schools who incorporate the 7 Habits into their curriculum and the stats provided, and a lot of talk about the 7 Habits.

If you are interested in the 7 Habits, I'd highly recommend the Unabridged CD series to listen to in your car- Covey relates many stories and applications as both a parent and professional. It is easy to implement and honestly, it changed my perspective and practices personally. Here it is: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Unabridged Audio Program). As a parent, it is easily relatable, moreso than the book from that direction. I'd ask you to think about purchasing the CDs before even reading the book- the book can get a bit technical and lose people who flip through it the first time- whereas the CDs have interesting stories, elaborated details on each Habit, and are orated by Covey himself.

In chapter 8, "Making It Happen, One Step at a Time", covers The 4 Imperatives of Leadership: Inspire Trust, Clarify Purpose, Align Systems, and Unleash Talent. In the last chapter, "Bringing it Home", you will find a treasure trove on the 2 pages (216, 217) of the 7 Habits and bulletpoints of how to implement them into your life. The Leader in Me is truly a great resource for parents, in addition to teachers, school administration, mentors, parent helpers and Sunday Schools/church children's ministries. Covey does a phenomenal job of laying out the foundation and ideals, in addition to providing many applicable ways to do start right away.

Covey shows his genius and passion in The Leader in Me. He also proves to be the master story teller, sharing the experiences of one determined principal, after attending one of his presentations in 1999, who set about to answer the question: can I apply The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to my school? Covey documents the process of applying the 7 habits at A. B. Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, NC, and the resulting metamorphosis that begins in the educational system as it spreads to other schools, and eventually to other countries.

More importantly Covey identifies why the 7 habits are important in today's educational climate and culture. While some may say his work is self-serving, he explains that the objective of teaching the 7 habits is not an attempt to make every student a future CEO, but to develop individual leaders, one child at a time. Given the crisis in public education in the U.S., one is left asking the question: does the Department of Education know about this????

With THE LEADER IN ME, audience is everything. Obviously it's pitched toward schools in search of an ethics program, but parents might find it of interest as well. Still, to my mind, the book's true target audience is the elementary school crowd. As over half of the book is devoted to elementary school case studies in general and the A.B. Combs Elementary School of North Carolina in particular, principals, teachers, and parents of elementary students will glean the most from this book. Yes, there are examples of middle and high schools thrown in -- but they're just that: "thrown in" to prove the universal appeal of the 7 Habits.

Speaking of, the 7 Habits are the foundation of the book (and, it would appear by the frequent plugs to a 7 Habits website, an entire industry). Covey encourages students to 1.) Be Proactive, 2.) Begin with the End in Mind, 3.) Put First Things First, 4.) Think Win-Win, 5.) Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, 6.) Synergize, and 7.) Sharpen the Saw. Ample explanations (in layman's terms) and examples are provided. Covey takes care to map out an approach, complete with suggestions and cautionary tales. It's all good, but part of me was wary of the "training" which involved contacting the 7 Habits "people" (operators are now standing by).

Still, I like the message of the habits and am convinced that, with all hands on deck and complete acceptance by a willing school, this program could really turn an elementary school around. It is a positive and affirming approach -- one that all in education know works -- so there's much to be said for embracing it. Perhaps it could be done without the training? You decide. If you're researching approaches that can instill respect and responsibility in your school, reading this treatise on how schools can rally round the banner of "leadership" should be, at the very least, part of your research.

I was really expecting more here. It spoke more of the results they achived and less about their methods to achive those results. A book like this needs to dig into the details. Hype without content.

This book is a must read for educators and parents who are seeking innovative ways to spell success for children in our schools. It is written well and includes many examples of strategies which are easy to replicate.

JJ Aden

Stephen Covey illustrates the great things that can happen in an elementary school when the focus is on giving students important life skills. He describes how many schools from all over the world are infusing the 7 habits into their learning culture. The book is inspirational and encourages hope in these difficult times.

This book reads like an informercial. It's too superficial if you are looking for a research based tool. It does give some food for thought about teaching the seven habits to students, even those in elementary school.

This book is slapped together, mostly fluff. Don't buy it if you're expecting to learn anything resembling methods that parents or schools can use to inspire greatness in children (as the subtitle implies). It doesn't deliver on that promise.

The author of this book also wrote "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Where normally it's an indication of quality for the author of a book to have written an earlier best seller, here it's a disadvantage. This book would never have seen the light of day if it had to stand on its own merits. Half the book is just talking about how great the other book was. To the extent that "The Leader In Me" has any useful content, it's mostly just a rehash of '7 Habits'.

Here's what's inside:

The author rambles on and on saying that "7 Habits" was so successful that organizations all over the world send people to his company's seminars to learn his leadership methods, including schools. He tells us how he realized there's a market for a book specifically about applying these methods to school children. He goes into great detail about a magnet school in South Carolina (IIRC) that turned around a declining enrollment when they realized parents wanted them to teach leadership skills and they started using the methods that Covey will soon be telling us.

Half an hour into it we still haven't learned what these highly touted methods are or how to use them. Note that I bought the audiobook version so I can't see chapter headings; it sounds like we're still in the Introduction and the book itself hasn't started yet. We've just heard the author explaining why he wrote the book and why we should read it. It all sounds very enticing until I gradually begin to wonder if there really is any "book" per se, or is this just a sales pitch for his seminars?

Finally the content starts. He explains a concept he calls 'primary greatness' (work ethic plus good moral character). He lists the '7 habits' from his other book, and makes a couple minor points. After just a few minutes that's it -- the end -- and he begins his closing remarks.

His closing remarks take another half hour (did I mention this was a poorly-written book?). He keeps rambling on saying things like "oh, one more thing" and "I almost forget to tell you", each time adding another isolated insight that he thought of. He says unfortunately there's not enough time to talk about how to actually implement his methods but you can visit his website or buy another one of his books to learn those things -- totally failing to acknowledge that's what *this* book was allegedly supposed to do. He reiterates the '7 Habits' again and congratulates himself a few more times, then it really is over.

The book was a complete waste of time for me. Perhaps if you're already a '7 Habits' junkie you might be interested to learn who else is using it, but you won't actually learn *how* to do much from this book.

This program is showing up more and more in public schools, including my sons school. I would avoid at all costs. It is nothing more than Mormon indoctrination. This has no place in public schools. It is up to the parents to decide what you want your children to follow, not a hidden Mormon religious program. This is used to brainwash the children and to stop them from thinking for themselves. Just like the common core that is also now plaguing our schools