Rating:  - Takes the 7 Habits to the Organizational Level
The book is a good companion to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The 7 Habits looks into becoming an effective person, while the 8th Habit explores becoming an effective leader. What the 7 Habits is to personal organization and excellence, the 8th Habit is to leadership and organizational excellence. It is the same principles applied to your company or organization.
Like the 7 Habit, the 8th Habit builds from the inside out. Covey looks at how you must first master your own leadership or "find your voice" and build outward to your organization ("help others find their voice"). The book itself is build around the concept of "the whole person" and I think he makes a convincing case for why this is a good way to approach people and lead your organization. His focus on conscience and the need to serve a higher cause is inspiring and, I think, well stated.
My only complaint about this book is that you will recognize many of the examples from the 7 Habits and this can feel a bit repetitive at times. The book includes a companion DVD, but I did not watch it due to the fact that this was a friend's book.
Rating: - It's A Classic For A Reason
This book was gifted to me at Christmas by an employer years ago when it was "The Seven Habits". Covey is a classic. This book will change your life. I promise you. Is you follow it - the positive changes will begin immediately. You will begin to get way more done douring the course of your day and still have more time for family...etc...
There is a reason this book has been selling so well for so long. Don't be the only person at work that has not read it.
Rating:  - Read Someting Else including Covey's The 7 Habits of...
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness: Miniature Edition
Covey generally writes well, and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which is a much better and more useful read) remains one of the better personal development books on the market today.
In short, this 8th Habit book...any strong synonym for "bad" will do. Only read it if you can buy it for less than $3, and will not spend more than 20 minutes on it.
With the 8th Habit he capitalized on the success of his previous books to generate more cash. He does try to make this book as useful to a reader as possible, albeit with little success. The book is more tedious than his previous ones. Covey reiterates the same points (I almost feel like he copy and pastes paragraphs) and fills space with many inspirational stories and quotes which, and one can disagree, should be really limited to specific examples and supporting points in order to be effective.
In this text, yet again, he goes over different types of intelligence. If you never did particularly well academically, you can think that you are "intelligent in other ways." He spends a good chunk of the book persuading you that great leaders develop their physical, emotional and spiritual intelligence into higher sense of right and wrong (among other things). Creative genius perhaps? Just one look at the creative accounting by senior executives at Lehman and AIG suggests they really found a creative outlet for their physical and emotional intelligence :) Sorry, Covey explained away all modern-day corrupt leadership with Hitler and "mad ego" example.
The voice and the speed of trust was a good section, and probably a useful one for most people. Is it worth reading the entire book though..? I think there are far better texts(including his own 7 Habits), that are less theoretical/philosophical, and are packed with real-life concrete ideas that can be put into action today. Brian Tracy tends to be good with that and his books/programs on Maximum Achievement and How to Master Your Time are worth a look as a substitute to the 8th Habit.
Rating:  - Extremely Disappointed
I am only rating this book 1 because there is no zero rating.
I have read and enjoyed the 7 habits and First Things First; however this book one ways or another is repeat of same concepts and materials in the 7 Habits book.
Way too long, badly written and too many irrelevant details. In brief I think it's a new many making attempt by S. Covey.
Rating:  - El 8vo Habito
Good summary of the book. Return to the road after years of read the first Covey book.
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