Customer Reviews

Stephen R. Covey Live - The 8th Habit - From Effectiveness to Greatness

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a very big fan of Stephen Covey, his writings, and especially the 8th Habit. The book is excellent and I recommend it to anyone. The Live DVD is, I hope, Covey's worst live performance ever. He looked uncomfortable and nervous like he was struggling to remember his text, some of his slides were written incorrectly from the book version, his clip mike appeared to not be working so he was awkwardly grasping a hand held microphone that looked ridiculous, and the performance overall was poor. I was also surprised at what they chose to use as a quick 35 minute version of the lecture. It was not as coherent as it could have been. If you have ever seen Covey speak live or seen it on video, this is not the man you have seen before. I am still not sure what was wrong - off day, not comfortable presenting the new material, or if I am overly critical. It was a big surprise and a big disappointment. Buy the book, skip the DVD, and hope this was an anomaly.

My husband, and now my son, are great fans of Stephen Covey. They each purchased his 8th Habit book and enjoyed it immensely. Some editions of this book were to have included a CD, and I thought I was purchasing that DVD (one for each of them) when I found it on Amazon. Most unfortunately, this DVD captured more of an outline of lessons during one of Mr. Covey's seminars. Instances already covered in the original book, and, worst of all it looks like it was an amateur video taken from some not-very-professional vantage point during one of his seminars. Hugely disappointed with the product for $29.95. The producers need to give an accurate description of this product and they should lower the price for such bad audio/video quality and sketchy coverage.

I'm not sure if Covey was off, or not, this DVD was my first introduction to his material. I thought there were several stories and concepts in here that were motivational/inspirational and that definitely moved me to think about what I was/am doing in my life. It seems this is an abridged version of the book, but the points are definitely made and definitely well taken. I especially liked the four assumptions for your mind, body heart and soul, and his telling of a story at sea, an allegory that appears in the naval manual.

Anyone who has read any of Stephen Covey's books knows that the content is very deep. This DVD allows you to understand all the principles outlined in the 8th Habit. Mr. Covey teaches, inspires and sets a standard that each of us should strive to attain. I have now viewed this DVD 3 or 4 times as well as shared it with many friends and family members.

He pretty much covers the absolute basics and shows about 3 films that come with the 8th habit book. I really felt this was more of a commercial to by the book that was a bit too brief. I really love his principles and tell everyone about this books. (Especially 7th and 8th Habit)
I don't think I would have purchased had I realized the lack of depth and the shortness of the film.