Modern day management gurus don’t come much bigger than Stephen R Covey, who has an MBA from Harvard University. He is a best selling author of management must have books including ‘First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership’ and ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, the latter having sold several million copies worldwide and was on the New York Times bestseller list for nearly five years.

Any managers looking to work on some soft skills training and personal development would benefit from Covey’s philosophy that behaviour and its consequence stem from an individuals values and principles. His approach is simple, accessible, and ultimately practical and rooted in common sense.

• Habit 1: Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Choice
• Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind: Principles of Personal Vision
• Habit 3: Put First Things First: Principles of Integrity & Execution
• Habit 4: Think Win/Win: Principles of Mutual Benefit
• Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood: Principles of Mutual Understanding
• Habit 6: Synergize: Principles of Creative Cooperation
• Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal
(Source: Wikipedia)

In 2004 he published his sequel to The Seven Habits; ‘The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness.