ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609130009
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
THE AUTHOR of "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" visited Roanoke.
Stephen R. Covey, the management guru best known for his book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," was in a lobby of the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center Wednesday going on and on about the excellence of the facility and the people who run its continuing education program.
In town to lecture on the winning habits, which go by names such as "sharpen the saw," he said he is a great fan of an ongoing series of seminars and classes at the hotel for people who want to improve.
The series is under the auspices of the Center for Organization and Technological Advancement, the series of programs that Virginia Tech presents in Roanoke. Dozens of leadership, motivational and personal growth programs have already taken place in the conference center - which Roanoke built 18 months ago for $13 million - and have been well-attended by business and government leaders and others.
"I think this whole country is going to be filled with things like this," Covey said. "They really have a treasure for the whole state and for the nation right here."
On Wednesday, he addressed an audience of 850 people who paid about $300 each for the 61/2-hour event. They wanted to know how to live a healthier, more productive life while juggling work and family.
The answer that Covey gave is taken from the former Brigham Young University professor's 1989 book that still forms the basis of his presentations, which he repeats dozens of times a year. Teaching the principles is the mission of a fast-growing business, the Covey Leadership Center in Provo, Utah, where the 62-year-old Covey lives.
Briefly, here's what Covey recommends:
* Be proactive, meaning that when change is coming, react ahead of time.
* Begin with the end in mind.
* Put first things first.
* Think win/win.
* Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
* Synergize, which Covey has defined as "one plus one equals three or more."
* "Sharpen the saw," a term for nurturing the physical, spiritual, mental, social and emotional sides of being human.
Virginia Tech officials have heard Covey's praise of the Roanoke programs before and said they are pleased to have his support on the record. On Wednesday, they named him the first fellow of the Center for Organizational and Technological Advance. Harold Kurstedt, who directs the center, described the honor as "psychic award" to thank Covey for his support.
Covey accepted an honorary seat on its national advisory board. It doesn't require him to attend any meetings or make any decisions but merely to lend his name to the effort. He did give a helpful critique of the center's mission statement before the conference center opened in April 1995.
Tech officials felt honored, as Covey very selectively lends out his name to teaching institutions. No other university can claim Covey as an honorary or even full-fledged member of any of campus board, said Covey's spokeswoman, Debra Lund.
The relationship between Covey and Tech grew from a Tech faculty member's use of networking, a principle Covey endorses. James J. Buffer Jr., who set up the center and now is a professor of education at Tech, used contacts in Ohio to meet Covey at a speech and solicit his help three or four years ago.
Covey generally charges $45,000 per day for his presentations but waived his fee when he appeared in May 1995 at the self-improvement program's dedication. He has made other appearances on behalf of Tech.
"We're reaching out to him. He's reaching back to us," Kurstedt said. "Somehow, Covey and Virginia Tech seem to be fond of one another."
Covey also said he liked his room at Hotel Roanoke - the $450 per night governor's suite - to which the room-service staff Wednesday morning delivered oatmeal, fresh fruit and mineral water.
The only problem was those fat Doubletree cookies Covey received at check-in. Eating them would have gone against his Habit No. 7.
"I can't allow myself the cookies," he said, explaining he gave them away. "I just don't want to get that tempted."
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NHAT MEYER. Staff Author Stephen R. Covey talks to aby CNBgroup in the Hotel Roanoke's ballroom on Wednesday afternoon.
color.