The The Character Ethic 2 vs. The Personality Ethic – Why Character Trumps Personality
As Stephen Covey writes in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, most of the success literature published in the United States for the first century and a half after 1776 focused on The Character Ethic as being the underlying foundation of how a person can live an influential, successful and happy life.
The The Character Ethic 2 includes primary and universal principles of human success, leadership, and effectiveness including:
The Golden Rule
In these works, it was understood that a person should develop fundamental behaviors like listening, However, shortly after World War I, Covey explains, the basic view of success shifted from the The Character Ethic 2 to The Personality Ethic.
In these works, the approach behind success shifted to focusing on personality techniques – as opposed to character building.
In short, the focus shifted from building the primary human character traits listed above to simply improving secondary behavior skills — for example The Character Ethic 2:
While some of this newer literature briefly discussed the importance of character, it became mostly lip service – as long as you say and do the right things and package yourself in the right ways, you will be likely to get the results you want.
Since I was born in the late 1960’s, I had virtually no experience with the success literature from the earlier, Character Era.
Instead, I was raised on a steady diet of Personality.
All of the success books I read or listened to said that you should smile, dress nice, say and do the right things – and if you look good and appear interested in other people, you can pretty much get what you want in life.
I had unwittingly been taught to try and control, manipulate, and maneuver my way through life – without ever taking into account Who I Really Am or what I actually wanted to do.
It occurred to me that this was the height of irony – because, as all these books and programs had been telling us on one hand that this is the way to “get what you want in life”…
The hidden – or no-so-hidden – message in all of these programs is also — Fake it until you make it.
Wow. That was a stunning realization for me.
Because I was shocked to realize that while I had been mostly faking my way through life – because I had no idea who I was or what I really wanted…
I also realized how many people I had been manipulated by, who had done the exact same thing to ME – because we’d all been reading the same The Character Ethic 2 books!
All I had ever tried to do was change my personality…
Because that’s what all those books told me to do.
The fact is, in all these books, I never heard anyone talk about what character IS or how important it is – or even mention that you should have it as The Character Ethic 2.
Today, however, as I teach my clients in my online courses like Power Habits® Academy as well as my coaching programs, every day I see more and more how important it is to get back to The Character Ethic 2.
So how do we do that?
As Stephen Covey (my first unofficial mentor) often said (I’m paraphrasing): “The fastest way to build character is to make a promise and keep it.”
In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey also wrote about the P/PC Balance, which means Production vs. Production Capacity — and represents this through the fable of The Goose and The Golden Egg.
When I discovered Covey and his book, that’s when I learned the term paradigm, meaning “the perspective with which you see the world.” Your paradigm is your map of the universe.
Now we hear the term paradigm shift everywhere from the world of business to philosophy to human communication of every kind.
Even before he got to Habit 1 – Be Proactive, Covey wrote about why each habit is important – for example:
Because isn’t it true that the most important – and easiest to judge – measure of a person’s character is to see if they do what they say they’re going to do.
There’s another old saying: “After all is said and done, more is said than done.”
Ain’t THAT the truth!
It’s so easy to SAY you’re going to do something…
“I’m going to write my book… I’m going to fix the lawnmower… I’m going to get in shape…”
But when push comes to shove, and the going gets tough, that’s when our WORDS tend to fall short of our ACTIONS.
“Oh, I’ll write when I feel inspired… I’ve got some important TV watching to do…”
By the way, have you ever noticed when the going gets tough?
Exactly – all the time!
There are always roadblocks, reversals, things we didn’t expect that come up.
That’s called LIFE.
And the truth is that most people would rather have EXCUSES than SUCCESS.
So ask yourself a simple question: “Would I rather have excuses or success?”
And for the word success – just substitute what you want – e.g., money, health, happiness, peace of mind…
The truth is, there are always excuses not to take action.
Excuses are EASY.
Excuses, however, are just another form of letting ourselves be run by FEAR and letting our lives be guided by fear – the belief in “not-enough.”
Yet as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Inside of us, we know that on the other side of fear lies freedom.”
Noah St. John Note: Living from The Personality Ethic without seeking to live from The Character Ethic 2 is like trying to build your house on a foundation of sand. The personal challenge for each of us – and the key to true greatness, personal development and influence – is to seek constant improvement and balance between The Character Ethic 2 and Personality Ethics.
Contact us at Speakers Inc and follow us on Twitter
In this article you will discover 7 emotional management techniques . A person with poor emotional management in the workplace, or even in personal life, can have consequences such as being fired or failing to maintain a stable relationship. At work, those who do not have an awareness of their emotions are often someone who has difficulty appreciating and being appreciated […]
Four Reasons why do most successful employees manage their Personal Brands daily? It’s simple, really. They get the concept that every time someone has contact with you at work, outside of work, or on social media, one of two things happen: your Personal Brand is either strengthened or weakened by what you say or don’t say, and by what […]
What Is Customer Experience? Why It’s the Business Strategy You Can’t Afford to Ignore In today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, your product or service alone isn’t enough to guarantee growth. What truly sets businesses apart now is the way they make people feel—before, during, and after a transaction. That’s where Customer Experience comes in. But before you […]
How to make change work for you, As human beings, we don’t look at change and think, “Hmmm I want more of that.” Given my own relationship to and with change, I challenged myself to figure out why this is true. Why do we avoid change? Why does change create stress, fear and uncertainty? The […]
The need for resilient leadership has never been more urgent in today’s unpredictable global climate, where economic volatility, social upheaval, and technological disruption dominate headlines. For event planners and corporate bookers, understanding and curating experiences around this theme can spark not only thought-provoking discussions but also provide actionable frameworks for organizations navigating complexity. Why Resilient […]
We’re thrilled to bring back our Speakers Inc Virtual Speaker Showcase in 2026 and this edition is proudly focused on spotlighting the exceptional speaker talent emerging from South Africa. This isn’t just another webinar. It’s a curated, high-production showcase designed to present dynamic speakers to the people who book them such as corporate event planners, […]
Desiree-Anne Martin believes in the inherent ability of anyone to change. Her mantra is that there is hope, always, and she is a Change Catalyst and Inspirational Speaker. Desiree-Anne is a prize-winning published author and poet. Her writing on racial identification, GBV, the myths of parenthood, sex and feminism has appeared in numerous print anthologies […]
Building High-Performing Teams: Lessons from Workplace Culture Keynotes In today’s rapidly evolving work environment, where remote and hybrid models have become the norm, team cohesion and morale are more important than ever. High-performing teams are the cornerstone of organizational success, driving innovation, productivity, and employee satisfaction. But what makes a team truly thrive? Insights from […]
Our Mission:
© All rights reserved 2025. Designed using Voxel
