Book summary. The prevalence of secondary traits/greatness

Book Summary
Name
Institution
Due Date
Book Summary
Few books are as thorough and written from a point of understanding as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Franklin Covey. Today, the idea of success is widely publicized and this often leaves many people working towards achieving or attaining the socially acceptable levels of success. However, as revealed by Covey, many people often struggle with “inner hunger, a deep need for personal congruency and effectiveness and for healthy, growing relationships with other people” (12). So, in his book, Covey talks about growth from the individual perspective. Growth as a term in the book necessitates the inclusion of the maturity continuum which Covey also makes great use of as he expounds on dependence, independence, and interdependence. Another term that Covey introduces and that takes up a significant portion of the book is habits. From the book, Covey defines habits as “the intersection of knowledge, skill, and desire” (54). He then breaks down the terms knowledge, skill, and desire. He defines knowledge as “the theoretical paradigm, the what to do and the why. Skill is the how to do. And desire is the motivation, the want to do” (56). All these ideas and concepts are gelled together to make up a great masterpiece. However, in this article, the focus will be on three nuggets that I believe can help form a great foundation of one’s transformation in life. The three nuggets include the prevalence of secondary traits or greatness, the little-understood concept of interdependence or the need for others, and the principle of balanced self-renewal. It is crucial to indicate that the book does contain a lot of useful snippets that can be of great use to anyone who decides to read it.
The prevalence of secondary traits/greatness
“Perhaps, in utilizing our human capacity to build on the foundation of generations before us, we have inadvertently become so focused on our own building that we have forgotten the foundation that holds it up; or in reaping for so long where we have not sown, perhaps we have forgotten the need to sow” (23).
One of the things that Covey makes clear in his book is the distinction between primary and secondary traits/greatness. Before getting to this point, Covey took time explaining how the world had shifted from character ethic to personality ethic. Character ethic was a belief in the world that claimed that there are some basic principles of effective living. Examples of these included “modesty, simplicity, industry, patience, justice, courage, temperance, fidelity, humility, and integrity” (18). However, Covey notes that the world moved from this era and got into the personality ethic era where people were more concerned with their public image, attitudes and behaviors, and skills and techniques. However, what few knew about this was the fact that it opened the door to superficiality in relationships. It made people focus more on themselves even when this idea hurt those around them. Covey notes that this ideology affected how he and his wife took care of their troubled son. “Our image of ourselves, and our role as good, caring parents, was even deeper than our image of...