FranklinCovey Global Education Practice Leader, Sean Covey discusses opportunities in the education sector

March 23, 2015: Education Practice Leader at FranklinCovey and world-renowned author and speaker, Sean Covey has met with key education authorities, teachers, students, and parents during his first visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the Kingdom, he discussed the high-impact of ‘The Leader in Me’ process and shared success stories of schools from around the world. Sean hosted events and delivered keynote messages from March 22 to 23, 2015 at the Riyadh Marriott Hotel, explaining how The Leader In Me, a whole-school transformation process, - developed in partnership with educators – focus’ on developing 21st century leadership and life skills for K-12 students and creates a culture of student empowerment, based on the idea that every child can be a leader. FranklinCovey Middle East organized and coordinated Sean’s visit to KSA.

On the first day of his visit, he took a closer look at the opportunities in the education sector  and discussed with officials from the Ministry of Education, Tatweer Education Holding and Mawhiba Association for the Gifted, how adopting ‘The Leader in Me’ framework could help raise pedagogical standards. His session with school owners, teachers and principals from various schools took place in the evening of the same day during which he explained how the integration of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People into all aspects of the daily life of a school, enhances students’ life skills and behavior, academic achievement, workforce readiness and the transfer of such benefits to home and community lives.

The last day of his visit Covey held discussions with large Saudi organizations, to explore how they can partner with education providers. By participating in the adopt-a-school program as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, organizations will reap the benefits of helping to create a solid foundation of new leaders amongst the youth of Saudi Arabia. Covey reiterated that The Leader in Me framework helps students learn how to become self-reliant, manage their emotions, set and track goals, do their homework, prioritize their time, increase interpersonal skills, such as resolve conflicts and interact well with others, as well as help them develop the skills and self-confidence to lead their lives and succeed, in the 21st century.

Covey said: “The world has entered an era of the most profound and challenging change in human history. Most of our children are not yet prepared for these changes and we know it. We have to start with the younger generation. ‘The Leader in Me’ process is designed to be implemented in any school, curriculum and culture. We have witnessed improved results year after year in academic institutions that have implemented the program.”

To date, a total of 2000 public, private and magnet schools across 35 countries have adopted The Leader in Me worldwide. The Rowad AlKhaleej International Schools in Dammam and Dar Al Thikr in Jeddah for instance, are now reaping the benefits of implementing ‘The Leader in Me’ initiative.

“We are confident that we can duplicate the accomplishments of other schools across Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East. In the Kingdom, in particular, we notice rapid growth of the education sector, as new modern tools and strategies are being introduced steadily. Our process complements these efforts aimed at producing a new generation of young leaders who will help propel Saudi’s future,” Covey added.

Sean graduated from Brigham Young University (BYU) with a degree in English and later earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a New York Times bestselling 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. As FranklinCovey’s Education Practice Leader, he is devoted to transforming education around the globe through bringing leadership principles and skills to students, educators, administrators, and parents alike.