Smith presents ‘The 3 Gaps’

Hyrum Smith, cofounder and former CEO of the Franklin-Covey company and former CGSC Foundation board president, presented his “3 Gaps” lecture to CGSC students, Jan. 26, in Eisenhower Hall of the Lewis and Clark Center on Fort Leavenworth.

Smith provided the students with thoughtful approached to improving their personal and professional lives using his “belief window” model and pulling from his recently published book entitled The 3 Gaps. Through his always clever use of personal stories and humor, as well as time-tested truths, Smith walked the class through his thoughts on the “Belief Gap,” the “Time Gap” and the “Value Gap.”

Smith served as the CGSC Foundation vice president of the board of trustees from June 2007 to July 2008, then five additional years as the Foundation board president until he stepped down in February 2013. Smith first spoke to the class at the suggestion of the Foundation as a public service to the College. He last spoke to CGSC classes in 2008, 2010 and Feb. 2015. His presentations consistently receive high praise from the students who are well known to many as a particularly tough audience.

In addition to his recently released book The 3 Gaps, Smith is also the author of several other nationally published and acclaimed books including The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management, What Matters Most, The Advanced Day Planner User’s Guide and The Modern Gladiator. He is also co-author of Excellence Through Time Management.

Smith served in the Army as an artillery captain from 1965-1969, receiving his commission through Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Okla. Following his military service, Smith graduated from Brigham Young University in 1971. After college he took a job with ADP, a data processing firm, where he rose to become senior vice president for sales. In 1981, he formed his own training company, Golden Eagle Motivation, focusing on sales management. Later Smith worked as a consultant for a time management training company.

In 1984, Smith help create the widely used Franklin Day Planner and formed Franklin Quest Co. to produce the planner and train individuals and organizations in time management principles. He later founded Franklin Covey, as a successor company to Franklin Quest, and served as vice chairman of the board until September 1984. He helped found The Galileo Initiative in 2001 to focus on teaching and training some of the core concepts he has come to feel the most deeply about in his years of training and motivating people.

Smith has received numerous honors and community service awards, including the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the 1992 SRI Gallup Hall of Fame and Man of the Year Award. Hyrum was honored as the International Entrepreneur of the Year by Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of management in 1993. He serves on several boards of directors and national advisory councils, and has been the recipient of three honorary doctorate degrees. In 1994 he was inducted into the U. S. Army’s Artillery OCS Hall of Fame, and in 2005 was inducted into the Order of St. Barbara.