The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Discussion Questions

About the Book: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People started as an unknown business-leadership book and became one of the bestselling nonfiction business books in history. In celebration of the 30-year anniversary, Stephen R. Covey’s son Sean Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, contributed additional content to each habit, keeping the book both consistent and relevant.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People challenges readers to consider their values and character in order to become the best versions of themselves, both personally and professionally. Check out our interview between Sean Covey and Scott J. Miller, host of our FranklinCovey book club, for a more intimate look at the impact of this bestseller.

If you haven't read the book (or just need a refresher), we put together an overview with key takeaways, so you can apply each habit to your own life.

Discussion Questions

Feel free to use these discussion questions in your own personal book club, or keep them on hand while you read.

1. After reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which habit do you think will come most easily to you at home or at work? Which habit do you think you’ll struggle with the most?
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2. We’ve all been affected by forces out of our control over the past two years. What have you done (or what can you do) to reclaim your power to choose?
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3. Stephen R. Covey believed everyone has a unique contribution to make. Do you know what yours is? If not, how might you go about discovering it?
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4. Do you think you naturally have an Abundance Mentality or a Scarcity Mentality? What events or people in your life might have affected that tendency?
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5. Talk about a time when someone really listened to you. What impact did it have?
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6. How could you renew your ability to empathize with others? What might you do to receive support and empathy from others?
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7. How can you practice win-win thinking with someone who thinks win-lose?
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8. Have you ever experienced finding a “3rd alternative” with someone? What was that like?
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9. Consider the four elements of renewal (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual). Which element do you think needs your attention the most right now, and what would focusing on that element look like for you?
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10. Think about what you want your legacy to be. What does that look like? What is on your to-do list today that aligns with that vision?
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11. Have you ever experienced a paradigm shift? What was that like? What did you learn from it?
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12. Think about how the 7 habits play a role in the work that you do. As a leader, which of the 7 habits do you think are the most important to model in the workplace? What does that look like for you?

About the Author

Sean Covey is President of FranklinCovey Education and has led the development of most of FranklinCovey’s organizational offerings, as well as overseeing all of Franklin Covey’s International partnerships, which cover more than 140 countries. Sean is also FranklinCovey’s Education Practice Leader and is devoted to transforming education around the globe by bringing leadership principles and skills to as many kids, educators, and schools as possible.

Sean graduated with honors from BYU with a Bachelor’s degree in English and later earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. As the starting quarterback for BYU, he led his team to two bowl games and was twice selected as the ESPN Most Valuable Player of the Game. He is a New York Times best-selling author and has written several books, including The 6 Most Important Decisions You’ll Ever Make, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which has been translated into 20 languages and sold over 4 million copies worldwide.

Curious how Sean might answer our discussion questions? See the author Q&A section for The 7 Habits in our FranklinCovey book club, where he shares his own video responses to each question.