Recently, I read an article about Stephen Covey, (not the Stephen Covey from ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ fame, but his son). The article was espousing the virtues of trust, and how our world in business and society, not to mention geo-politically, has become a pervasively low-trust world.
His perspective on trust is not just the feel-good trust factor we learn in Sunday School and through Human Resource training sessions. His view is that trust becomes a hard, measurable, economic lever to build sustainable growth, collaboration, and ongoing retention of quality employees. In fact, he has written a best selling book on the topic, The SPEED of Trust, the One Thing that Changes Everything. CEO’s around the world, from Al Carey at Frito Lay to Steve Forbes, of Forbes, International; are lining up to hear this message.
Frankly, I find this new-found interest in ‘trust’ amazing, as trust has always been my bedrock for any strong, sustainable business or personal relationship. What makes his message so unique?
The one tangible takeaway from his message is that he highlights 13 behaviors of ‘trust-inspiring’ leaders. He explains, teaches, and discusses behaviors such as demonstrating respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, delivering results and practicing accountability. His approach is very down-to-earth and he offers disarming personal stories to highlight his perspective. The book is worth a read. From my perspective, trust is a given for any worthwhile, long-standing relationship. What make his message interesting to business leaders, is that he mobilizes the ‘how’ to build trust in an organizational setting. So, for those companies and cultures who are struggling to build and maintain a trusting environment – this may be a worthy ‘how to’ book to investigate.