His first book:  The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, was on the New York Times  bestseller list for 144 weeks beginning in 1993.   It is reportedly the best-selling business book of all-time.  The book has been translated into 26 languages as well.

The Franklin Covey Company

The big development in Covey's professional life in recent years was that in 1997, the Franklin Quest Company, a leading provider of training seminars and the creator of the Franklin Day Planner, and the Covey Leadership Center announced the closing of their merger.

The merged company, known as the Franklin Covey Company, had fiscal 2000 revenues of $585 million (smaller today, $284 million, due to restructuring of company operations).  Franklin Covey’s retail stores are located in top retail centers throughout the nation.  The company's headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Franklin Covey provides a broad range of curricula including leadership, time management, team building, business and technical communication, change management, productivity, strategic alignment, and custom solutions.

Clients have access to Franklin Covey curriculum through consulting services, personal coaching, custom on-site training, and client facilitated training, as well as open enrollment training offered in over 300 cities in North America and 40 countries worldwide.

Franklin Covey has more than 15 million students and individuals using agendas, organizers, planners, training products and materials. 

In theory, the merger made a lot of sense:  combining Covey's seminars and books with Franklin's planners and offering businesses a complete training solution.  But upper management foundered on the best way to integrate the two different corporate sales cultures: Covey's, which encouraged teamwork, and Franklin's, which rewarded individual performance.

The result has been a disappointment for all concerned.  In 1999 Stephen Covey himself was forced to take a back seat in the operations. 

That year, the Franklin Covey board appointed Robert Whitman, a Dallas financier, as chairman after he invested $75 million, for an effective 20% stake in the company.  Whitman installed two of his associates on Franklin Covey's board and ousted longtime employee Jon Rowberry as chief executive.  Stephen Covey then became a non-executive vice president.  He retains a large stake in the company, but will stick to writing books and running seminars. 

Franklin Covey's Seminars and Training

In fiscal 2005, the Company provided products and services to 90% of the Fortune 100 companies and more than 75% of Fortune 500 companies. They also provide products and services to a number of U.S. and foreign governmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as numerous educational institutions. The company provides training curricula, measurement services and implementation tools internationally, either through directly operated offices, or thorough licensed providers. On August 31, 2007, they had direct operations in Australia, Canada, Japan,  and the United Kingdom. They also had licensed operations in 87 countries and licensed rights in 140 countries. 

FranklinCovey is a leading provider of effectiveness training, productivity tools and assessment services for organizations including corporations, Government, education and non-profit firms. These services are marketed and delivered world-wide through the Organizational Solutions Business Unit (OSBU). FranklinCovey currently employs 94 training consultants in major metropolitan areas of the United States, with an additional 19 training consultants outside of the United States.

During fiscal year 2007, more than 500,000 individuals were trained using the company’s curricula in its single and multiple–day workshops and seminars,

Consumer Direct

The company sells products and services through catalog call center operations, Internet sales operations and public seminar programs. It periodically mails catalogs to its clients, including a fall catalog, holiday catalogs, spring, and summer catalogs timed to coincide with planner renewals.

Public seminars are delivered by training consultants in more than 100 major metropolitan cities throughout the United States. These seminars provide training for organizations and the general public and are also used as a marketing tool for attracting corporate and other institutional clients.

Franklin Covey currently employs 110 training consultants in major metro areas of the United States, with an additional 39 training consultants outside of the United States.

The firm also provides The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens  as a workshop or as a year long curriculum to schools and school districts and other organizations working with youth. Based on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens book, it helps to teach students and teachers studying skills, learning habits, and interpersonal development.