From Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

How Stephen Covey has personally influenced me

Did I ever mention that it was Stephen Covey who first inspired me to blog? It was because of his book that I had the sudden revelation I wanted to be a mentor others could rely on for advice and insight. Now, I don’t consider myself an expert, but rather a “vessel” that reiterates the knowledge from the books I read, imparting the interesting wisdom I’ve come across.

The issue with modern self-help books

Stephen Covey remarked about an interesting phenomenon he encountered when reading self-help literature. Early forms of self-improvement and popular psychology from the 18th and 19th centuries were focused on the importance of having a strong moral fiber as keys to successful living. The emphasis was placed on the individual’s values aligning with so-called ‘natural laws’ and similar principles of living a righteous life. He coined this school of thought the ‘Character Ethic.’

Upon reading success literature from the past 50 years, Covey found that the tips had become more and more superficial – concerned more so with quick tips and techniques used to solve these problems. These practices and advice could appear to solve these acute problems but never addressed the underlying issues; this would cause the same problems to reemerge. Covey coined this phenomenon the ‘Personality Ethic.’

“What do you mean by Ethics?”

I really can’t do it justice, so I’ll let Covey take it over from here:

Character Ethic [teaches] that there are basic principles of effective living, and that people can only experience true success and enduring happiness as they learn and integrate these principles into their basic character.

[Examples of such principles include] integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty, and the Golden Rule.
Personality Ethic [defined success more as] a function of personality, of public image, of attitudes and behaviors, skills and techniques, that lubricate the processes of human interaction. There are two paths of the Personality Ethic: one [is] human and public relations techniques, and the other [is] positive mental attitude.

Certain examples are inspiring and sometimes valid maxims such as ‘Your attitude determines your attitude,’ ‘Smiling wins more friends than frowning,’ and ‘Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.’

Other parts of the personality approach were clearly manipulative [or] even deceptive: advising the use of techniques to get other people to like them or to fake interest in others’ hobbies to get what they want…[even as far as] to intimidate their way through life.

Dissecting Covey’s definitions

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the Personality Ethic (at least some parts of it); in fact, Covey concedes “that [certain] elements of the Personality Ethic – personality growth, communication skill training, and education in the field of influence strategies and positive thinking – are…[,] in fact sometimes essential for success.”

These are, however, secondary traits rather than primary traits. It’s akin to building upon a shaky foundation. Trying to use personality techniques while having a fundamentally flawed character will not yield permanent success as there is no foundation for lasting success to be achieved.

Final Thoughts

If I were permitted to recommend only a single book from the realm of self-improvement and self-growth, it would be this one. And it’s because of this discussion that elucidates the key differences between these Ethics.

Nowadays, nearly every single growth/improvement book is enshrined in the Personality Ethic. I believe that it’s crucial to understand this when taking advice from this literature. It’s important to not forget that your foundation—character and values—must also be considered alongside those authors’ advice.

“Only basic goodness gives life to technique”

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Covey, S. R., Covey, S., & Collins, J. C. (2023). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Blackstone Publishing.