This included characteristics such as humility, fidelity, integrity, courage, and justice. It was here that he noticed a stark historical contrast between two types of success.īefore the First World War, success was attributed to ethics of character. In an attempt to understand why, he read several self-improvement, self-help, and popular psychology books written over the past 200 years. During his 25 years of working with successful individuals in business, universities, and relationship settings, Stephen Covey discovered that high-achievers were often plagued with a sense of emptiness.
