The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything Read online

  —John R. Wooden, Coach Emeritus, UCLA Basketball; author of My Personal Best and Wooden on Leadership

  “The Speed of Trust is a wonderful book. It is readable, practical, and broadly applicable. Anyone who needs to get crucial things done faster, more effectively, and with less friction ought to read it.”

  —Clayton M. Christensen, Robert & Jane Cizik Professor, Harvard Business School

  “Although it sounds like a cliché, The Speed of Trust is a must-read for anyone desiring to lead a nation, a company, a family, or even oneself during these turbulent times. As a student and practitioner of Covey principles for years in military hospitals, medical centers, and staff positions, as well as a CEO of a national medical association, I never was able to distill the essence of leadership as clearly as Stephen M. R. Covey has. This book is critical reading for anyone who desires to lead in a world of polarity, cynicism, and disappointment.”

  —Charles H. Roadman II, M.D., Lt. General, USAF (Ret.); Surgeon General, USAF (Ret.)

  “Stephen M. R. Covey has written a superior book on the importance of trust. Our principals will greatly benefit from reading this book. It will help them as they create trust with the teachers and the teachers in turn with their students. This book is a must-read.”

  —Pedro Garcia, Ed.D., Director of Schools, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools

  “Shortly after becoming Dean of the School of Medicine at UTMB Galveston, I took several of my key leaders to hear Stephen speak on The Speed of Trust. It resonated with all of us. Stephen and his team have worked with UTMB’s leadership group over the last year and given us both the insight and the ongoing tools to eliminate our ‘trust tax’ and truly become a productive community. The principles and action plans laid out by Stephen are universal. Anyone who is in a leadership team should read The Speed of Trust.”

  —Valerie M. Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., Dean of Medicine and Chief Academic Officer, University of Texas Medical Branch

  “Stephen M. R. Covey has researched the concept of trust down to its very core and provided solid, compelling data to prove the breadth of the trust gap, but more importantly, to provide solutions to broken trust. I find daily examples of the speed and alacrity that a trusting relationship yields and Stephen’s behavioral principles allow our toughest decisions to be made faster and with far less angst. This book has enormous power to change your life and your organization.”

  —Dave Gayler, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, Charlotte County, Florida

  “In the great tradition of words in the Covey name, The Speed of Trust has emphasized and clarified an in-depth understanding of the power of trust. Highly successful performers in business and in sports show a level of trust and understanding that separates them from their competition. Covey has validated this significance in our relationships and in our future successes in The Speed of Trust.”

  —Pete Carroll, head Football Coach, National Champion USC Trojans

  PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITIES

  “Those relationships that will stand the test of time are built upon a foundation of enduring trust. Covey gives us the blueprint for learning how to apply this principle with the important people in our lives.”

  —John Gray, Ph.D., author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

  “In The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey expertly illuminates the connections between credibility and productivity in a way that will forever change your perception of trust.”

  —Anthony Robbins, author of Awaken the Giant Within and Unlimited Power

  “The Speed of Trust explains brilliantly how trust is the shortest route to results. If you want rapid results, I trust you’ll love this book as much as I did.”

  —Robert G. Allen, author of the New York Times bestsellers Multiple Streams of Income and Cracking the Millionaire Code: Your Key to Enlightened Wealth

  “I know the importance of trust. Being roped together when crossing an ice field riddled with crevasses is the ultimate trust scenario. In the mountains, my life is often in my teammates’ hands and theirs in mine. Such a commitment is based on enormous trust, like much of life. Stephen’s book is packed with content on sustaining and building trust. It’s a must-read.”

  —Erik Weihenmayer, “The blind guy who climbed Everest”; author of Touch the Top of the World

  “If you want to speed forward to wealth, you have to have unconditional trust to maximize earnings. This great book will tell you how.”

  —Mark Victor Hansen, Cocreator of the number one New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul; coauthor of Cracking the Millionaire Code and The One Minute Millionaire

  “Trust is not a garment to be worn or cast off depending on the situation or culture. Every political, business, family, and educational leader in every nation needs to internalize the core concepts in this once-in-a-millennium book. Stephen has identified the synergistic glue that enables us to stick together. If we embrace it, we survive and thrive. If not, history becomes our prologue.”

  —Dr. Denis Waitley, author of The Seeds of Greatness

  “I am happier when I am trusted, and I bet you are too. Covey has done a masterful job teaching that trust is conditioned on our behavior and that we can consciously shift our behavior to deserve trust. This one realization can change your life. This is the best book by a Covey since 7 Habits.”

  —Richard Carlson, Ph.D., author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff and Don’t Get Scrooged

  LEARNING AND HUMAN RESOURCE AUTHORITIES

  “Building trust is one of the most critical challenges facing our society today. The Speed of Trust is a great gift, an indispensable resource for leaders in all three sectors determined to build and inspire trust across the organization. The ‘Five Waves of Trust’ will become a powerful support for principled, effective leaders of the future.”

  —Frances Hesselbein, Chairman, The Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation)

  “Stephen’s book is a fantastic resource on the ‘how-to’s’ of establishing, building and growing trust throughout your organization’s constituency base. This book is a critical read for all leaders in our new global economy who understand and value transparency and honesty. It is what we, as leaders, should all be about!”

  —Ann Rhoades, President, People Ink; former EVP People, JetBlue Airways

  “Trust is the quintessential basis for any solid relationship. In this well-crafted book Stephen has helped all of us to look deeply into how we can make trust the essence of our personal and professional lives.”

  —Fred Harburg, former President and Chief Learning Officer, Motorola University

  “Trust is the glue that bonds great people, processes, and environments, and ensures long-term success. If this critical component is missing, everything else falls apart. The Speed of Trust finally hits the mark that others have just grazed. Stephen M. R. Covey gives us the thinking process and structure for establishing, mending, and pursuing lifelong trusting relations in every aspect of our life. Let the healing begin!”

  —Rita Bailey, CEO, QVF Partners; coauthor of Destination Profit; former Director of the University for People, Southwest Airlines

  “In a ‘flatter’ world, trust is the ‘secret sauce’ that significantly enhances learning, relationships, and results. Covey’s breakthrough insight that trust is a competency is both revolutionary and immediately practical. CEOs and Chief Learning Officers will embrace The Speed of Trust as an authentic and actionable strategy—a road map—for increasing the effectiveness of their organizations and leaders.”

  —Elliott Masie, CEO, The Learning CONSORTIUM

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  CONTENTS

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  FOREWORD by Dr. Stephen R. Covey

  THE ONE THING THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

  How trust affects the trajectory and outcome of our lives—both personally and professionally—and what we can do to change it.

  Nothing Is as Fast as the Speed of Trust

  You Can Do Something About This!

  THE FIRST WAVE—SELF TRUST

  THE PRINCIPLE OF CREDIBILITY

  Beyond “ethics”: Why personal credibility is the foundation of all trust and how to create it.

  The 4 Cores of Credibility

  Core 1—Integrity

  Are You Congruent?

  Core 2—Intents

  What’s Your Agenda?

  Core 3—Capabilities

  Are You Relevant?

  Core 4—Results

  What’s Your Track Record?

  THE SECOND WAVE—RELATIONSHIP TRUST

  THE PRINCIPLE OF BEHAVIOR

  How to behave yourself out of problems you’ve behaved yourself into.

  The 13 Behaviors

  Behavior #1: Talk Straight

  Behavior #2: Demonstrate Respect

  Behavior #3: Create Transparency

  Behavior #4: Right Wrongs

  Behavior #5: Show Loyalty

  Behavior #6: Deliver Results

  Behavior #7: Get Better

  Behavior #8: Confront Reality

  Behavior #9: Clarify Expectations

  Behavior #10: Practice Accountability

  Behavior #11: Listen First

  Behavior #12: Keep Commitments

  Behavior #13: Extend Trust

  Creating an Action Plan

  THE THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH WAVES—STAKEHOLDER TRUST

  How to increase speed, lower cost, and maximize the influence of your organization.

  The Third Wave—Organizational Trust

  The Principle of Alignment

  The Fourth Wave—Market Trust

  The Principle of Reputation

  The Fifth Wave—Societal Trust

  The Principle of Contribution

  INSPIRING TRUST

  How to extend “Smart Trust,” restore trust, and take the exponential leap of faith that makes all the difference . . . and why not extending trust is the greatest risk of all.

  Extending “Smart Trust”

  Restoring Trust When It Has Been Lost

  A Propensity to Trust

  AFTERWORD

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  NOTES AND REFERENCES

  INDEX

  To my wife, Jeri, for her constant encouragement,

  unbelievable kindness, and abundant trust

  WHY AN UPDATED EDITION

  The content of this updated edition is essentially the same as the first. Experience has shown it’s more relevant today than ever (see the Afterword).

  However, we’ve now had the benefit of an additional twelve years of experience, which have produced even more outstanding examples of the ways people have applied the principles in a fast-changing world. The intent in publishing this updated edition is to share some updated information as well as some of the experiences of those who have discovered that truly “Trust changes everything.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am deeply grateful to so many who have helped make this book possible. I feel humbled and blessed by others’ contributions, and my sentiment is aptly expressed by Albert Einstein, who said: “Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” So it is with this book. It could not have been written without the help of many people for whom I am deeply thankful.

  Special thanks to the talented Rebecca Merrill for her magnificent assistance in every part of this endeavor, particularly her insights into writing. Without her creative help, we’d still be talking about this book rather than reading it.

  Thanks also to:

  • Greg Link—the “Link” in CoveyLink, and an amazing and visionary friend and business partner—for his tremendous insight, passion, courage, and influence.

  • Barry Rellaford, for his invaluable collaboration, coaching, and encouragement from the beginning.

  • Gary Judd, for his remarkable ideas, boldness, and willingness to risk.

  • David Kasperson, for his creative contributions, judgment, and abilities in keeping my speaking calendar constantly filled.

  • Julie Judd Gillman, for her many skills, cheerfulness, work ethic, and “can do” spirit.

  • Other members of the extended CoveyLink team for their ongoing support, help, and encouragement, including Dana Boshard, Donna Burnette, Ryan Cook, Joshua Covey, Shane Cragun, Chuck Farnsworth, Heather Goff, Dwight Hansen, John Harding, Tami Olsen, Robyn Kaelin, Suzanne Leonard, Kendall Lyman, Todd King, Craig Pace, Candie Perkins, Jeff Shumway, and Holly Whiting. Thanks also to Han Stice, our researcher, for his hard work and diligence; to Davia King, our intern, for her help in the early stages; and to Mary Wentz for her work on transcription.

  • My sister Cynthia Haller, for her many contributions, particularly her stories and ideas that have hopefully helped make this book more interesting.

  • My sisters Maria Cole and Catherine Sagers, for their ideas, suggestions, and advice on improving the manuscript.

  • Pam Walsh and Kevin Cope, for giving me the courage to take on this project.

  • My original editor, Dominick Anfuso, for his belief in this book from the outset.

  • My current editor, Ben Loehnen, for his affirming vision, along with Amar Deol and the entire Simon & Schuster team for their valuable contributions.

  • Our many clients, who provide an ongoing laboratory to apply and validate the Speed of Trust approach, and for the input and feedback so many have given—particularly for the great insights on “Smart Trust” from a highly synergistic group at Sundance, including Beth DiPaolo, Sandy Staton, and Joan Porraz.

  • Many others who read and reviewed various stages of the manuscript, including Bob Allen, Paul Brockbank, Kim Capps, Jean Crowther, Tom Crum, Dave Fairbanks, Dottie Gandy, Joseph Grenny, Bob Guindon, Greg Jewkes, Eric Krueger, Annie Link, Carol Maero-Fetzer, Alex Mandossian, Will Marre, Mette Norgaard, Von Orgill, Tally Payne, Rebecca Saltman, Paul Sanders, Steve Shallenberger, Michael Simpson, James Skinner, Carolyn Strauss, Kylie Turley, Tim Welch, Tessa White, and Lisa Williams. Their feedback was instructive, yet always affirming.

  With deep gratitude, I acknowledge my parents, Sandra and Stephen R. Covey, for their profound influence on my life and on my thinking. I also acknowledge many, many other thought leaders, some of whom are referenced throughout the book, for their influence on my thinking and on the development of this book over the past 20 years.

  Most importantly, I acknowledge and thank God for the blessings, insights, and support I have felt throughout this project. For me, He is the source of all principles that bring joy and success in life.

  FOREWORD

  How can a father “brag” on his son and still be credible—particularly regarding a book on trust?

  Consider this. Within three years of entrusting Stephen with the role of CEO in my company, Covey Leadership Center, the company’s sales nearly doubled and profit went up over 1,200 percent. During that period, the company branched into 40 different countries and increased in shareholder value from $2.4 million to the $160 million it was worth at the time of the merger he orchestrated with Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey.

  How was this accomplished under Stephen’s leadership? In a word—trust. Because of his character and his competence, Stephen was trusted. Also, he extended trust to others. The synergistic effect of being trusted and giving trust unleashed a level of
performance we had never experienced before, and almost everyone associated with those events looked on the transformation as the supreme, most exhilarating, and inspiring experience of their business careers.

  By the way, Stephen was the “green and clean” seven-year-old son I wrote about in my book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. You’ll be interested (as I was) to read “his side of the story” in this book. From my perspective, Stephen’s learning how to keep our yard “green and clean” set a pattern of excellence that has continued throughout his life, and it has manifested itself in the way in which he transformed my company, carried out a number of successful leadership, training, and consulting projects, and produced this book—as well as in everything else he has done.

  THREE REASONS WHY I LOVE THIS BOOK

  There are three reasons why I believe this book will become a classic. First, it works on the roots. Second, it’s deep, practical, and comprehensive. Third, it inspires hope. Let me comment on each in turn.

  First, this book strikes at the roots. Henry David Thoreau taught that “for every thousand people hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the roots.” You can easily see the importance of “striking at the roots” in other dimensions—for instance, when you compare the impact of focusing on preventing disease instead of merely treating it, or on preventing crime instead of merely enforcing the law. In this book, you begin to see it in business where, instead of compliance, the focus is on optimization through developing an ethical character, transparent motivation, and superb competence in producing sustained, superior results.

  It’s ironic, but from my experience around the world, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance (or its equivalent) has eclipsed the focus on the mistakenly so-called soft stuff, like trust. CFOs and auditors have replaced people developers and strategic-minded HR practitioners in the throne room. At the same time, one of the hottest topics today is ethics—ethics discussions, ethics curriculum, ethics training, codes of ethics. This book shows that while ethics is fundamentally important and necessary, it is absolutely insufficient. It shows that the so-called soft stuff is hard, measurable, and impacts everything else in relationships, organizations, markets, and societies. Financial success comes from success in the marketplace, and success in the marketplace comes from success in the workplace. The heart and soul of all of this is trust.