Introduction
Covey's work on leadership has been influential in distinguishing what are the habits that
underlie principle centred leadership (Covey, 1990a; 1990b; Covey, Merrill and Merrill,
1994). Covey believes that leaders operate on four levels: the personal (relationship with
self); interpersonal (relationships and interactions with others); managerial (responsibility to
get a job done with others); and organisational (aligning actions and strategies with the
values embraced by the organisation). The relationship between Covey's levels of
management and what he has described as the seven habits of highly effective people are
well described by Espiner, Murray and O'Brien (1997) who have incorporated the teaching of
the 7 habits within an applied degree for human services workers. Within the personal level
Covey aligns the three habits of Being proactive (Habit 1) which relates to the clarification of
personal values; Begin with the end in mind (Habit 2) which stresses the need for vision and
mission; and that of Put first things first (Habit 3) which relates to effective time
management. Within the interpersonal level, Seeking first to understand, then to be
understood (Habit 5) is aimed at improved communication where both parties have a greater
influence over one another through being open to the other person's opinion. Moving to the
managerial level Think Win-Win (Habit 4) is seen as a means of discussing an outcome until
both parties can agree on a solution. Within this level Covey has described Synergise (Habit
6) which emphasises what can be achieved when people work co-operatively outweighing
what is possible on an individual basis which can sometimes lead to a third alternative.