Stephen Covey, '7 Habits' author: 'A force of human nature'

— -- The ideas, all seven of them, still sound so simple.

Be proactive. Think win-win. Begin with the end in mind, to name a few.

Yet they made Stephen Covey a force of human nature, his "7 Habits" woven into the emotional well-being of millions in almost any walk of life, from self-help to the corner offices of Corporate America. Covey died at age 79 Monday from complications after a bicycle accident in April.

At a workplace of the future conference during his presidency, Bill Clinton cited The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as one of three books every worker should read to "dramatically" boost the nation's productivity. Chief Executive magazine chose 7 Habits as the most influential book of the 20th century, and leading companies of the 1990s — FederalExpress, Hewlett-Packard, Conoco and Saturn, for example — trumpeted Covey's principles.

When Molly Howard was named School Principal of the Year in 2008, she said her reward in life was finding "win-win solutions … I believe in Covey's 'seek first to understand, then to be understood.' "

When Hurricane Katrina blasted into Mississippi, the local utility got the power back on in just 12 days, a feat described as a case study in crisis management.

Those responsible at Mississippi Power told USA TODAY they had steeped their culture in the 7 Habits and that "Covey-speak" — "be proactive" and "think win-win" — served as a basis for quick action and on-the-spot innovation.

Interesting, too, was the unusual crossover that Covey had into personal lives. The book bought by the company often made its way home, to a bookshelf perhaps, but often at the kitchen table, fodder for dinner conversation in guiding or reconstructing everyday lives.

The Covey concepts, such as "Begin with the End in Mind," forced people to think about how they'd be viewed at the end of life, what friends or family members or co-workers would say about them at their funerals, all of which had a way of sparking a change in mind-set, even in the way people tended to behave.

George Francis, a senior vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield, said the Covey principles began to guide his life as a corporate officer as well as "Dad."

"If I owned this company, every employee would live by the seven habits," Francis said in an interview after Covey's 1989 blockbuster launched and he began to command up to $25,000 per speech.

Covey died at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center following a biking accident that had knocked him unconscious. He was wearing a helmet and riding downhill at the time. With his wife, Sandra, Covey had nine children and 52 grandchildren.

Not entirely comfortable with all the attention he began to receive, Covey traveled widely but often surreptitiously, dressing down and wearing a cap over his shaved head to remain incognito. Covey and his family opened up to USA TODAY reporter Del Jones, during a rare visit to Covey's home, about his personal lifestyle — and wacky sense of humor.

Covey once greeted the prom date of his youngest daughter, Jenny, in a mask with a rifle across his legs. "What are your intentions?" Covey demanded. Jenny remembers her father driving her to grade school and asking: "Do you want me to be crazy dad or boring dad?" Naturally, she preferred crazy dad, who would feign he was headed for a crash into the trees, Jones wrote.

Covey said he developed the 7 Habits after studying hundreds of books and essays on success written since 1776. He noticed that the literature of the 20th century was dominated by gimmicks or "social Band-Aids" to improve the personality.

In contrast, the literature of the first 150 years — in the writings of Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin, for example — was based on character and principles such as integrity, courage and patience.

Covey's approach was straightforward. Habit 1: Be proactive, meant simply: Take responsibility for your life. Quit blaming your spouse, or your boss, or the kids, and take action.

"(Live by) your own set of principles, your sense of vision of what your life is about," Covey said. "Maybe in a few months or year and a half, two years, you'll be in an altogether different world."