The Speed Of Trust: Th...

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Stephen M.R. Covey

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The Speed Of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything

by Stephen M.R. Covey, Rebecca R. Merrill (Contributor)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 4,293 ratings · 215 reviews

In this powerful audio book, Stephen M.R. Covey articulates why trust has become the key leadership competency of the new global economy. Covey convincingly makes the case that trust is a measurable accelerator to performance and that when trust goes up, speed also goes up while cost comes down, producing what Covey calls a "trust dividend." Covey reveals the 13 Behaviors...more

354 pages

Published 2008 by Pocket Books (first published January 1st 2006)

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Mar 20, 2008 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business-management, life

Stephen M.R. Covey, the son, was head of training for his father's company.

The book is needlessly long and I didn't need to be sold on the value of trust (which is why the book is so long), hence, why the 3 star rating. Long sections of the book are very general and boring and I kept thinking how the book could have been netted down. I recommend the book, recommend skimming the boring examples and felt that along with the Economics of Trust, all that a reader needs on the important subject of t...more

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Jul 09, 2008 Craig rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: social-profit, personal-transformation

In the last few weeks, I've been traveling quite a lot—Brazil, Macedonia, Serbia, and throughout the U.S. Since I have a ritual that involves reading on planes, I've been able to get through a few books I've been hearing quite a bit about. The three I want to tell you about here, are all amazing. If you saw my copies, you'd see dog-eared pages, underlining, exclamation points and question marks in the margins. I really had no idea how much I'd be affected by each one, and completely surprised by...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stoos

Swashbooked, 10 minutes + discussion, Christmas 2012, with @ipreuss.

Why I picked it: I heard about it from a respected colleague, and I would like to recommend it to clients dealing with toxic work environments.

Notes:

Format: paperback, impossible to lay flat to read hands-free.

Chapter: Nothing is as Fast as the Speed of Trust
"Contrary to... we CAN increase trust, and faster than we think"
Trust = confidence. Opposite, distrust = suspicion.

Sections: Self-trust, Relationship-trust, Stakeholder-tr...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Gabriela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

According to Stephen M.R. Covey, the new economy is looking for businesses and individuals who can practice the virtue of trust. The Speed of Trust shows the importance of trust and how the rate at which it is built can help businesses win over clients and employees too. The book proposes that establishing trust is essential to creating high performing companies.

Gone are the days when companies would be secretive, make bad decisions and get away with it. Today's economy is increasingly becoming...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Claudia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-book-challenge-160-books, nonfiction

While Covey (son of the 'famous' Covey)sets out a great argument for trust in businesses, I, of course, look through the lens of an educator. I think the part that resonated the most with me was the first section on self trust, and the section about organizational trust. Sometimes I found the parallels, sometimes I didn't.

Self trust...believing in your mission, your purpose. Trusting YOURSELF to make good decisions, to reach out to others, to inspire trust. That is exactly what should happen in...more

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Sep 08, 2009 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business

The bulk of this short book might be characterized as "moral philosophy 101." It will be informative for moral imbeciles and those (many, by the measure of apparent business ethics) who don't believe that personal and business ethics have any connection. It's a basic outline of how to extend and create trust, and how to reciprocate when you receive it. Formulaic pop psychology.

The value of the book for me was in the first chapter. It makes the case for trust as a business value, that high trust...more The bulk of this short book might be characterized as "moral philosophy 101." It will be informative for moral imbeciles and those (many, by the measure of apparent business ethics) who don't believe that personal and business ethics have any connection. It's a basic outline of how to extend and create trust, and how to reciprocate when you receive it. Formulaic pop psychology.

The value of the book for me was in the first chapter. It makes the case for trust as a business value, that high trust increases speed and decreases cost. Covey gives the example of the acquisition of a $20 billion dollar business from Walmart by Warren Buffett, done in a two hour meeting, and with complete legal approval in less than a month, as a demonstration of just what a difference trust can make. On the reverse side, he points out the increased cost and inconvenience of air travel since 9/11 as an object lesson in the costs and penalties of reduced trust.

I remember when we started O'Reilly's publishing business. We would take orders on the phone, tell people to send us a check, and send out the books immediately, without waiting to receive payment. We did get stiffed a few times, but overall, it was a good plan.

Today, we offer our ebooks without DRM for the same reason: we trust our users not to screw us. It's good business.

Interestingly, I first heard about this book from Dave Wennergren, the CIO of the Department of Defense. It's an idea that really resonates here for government, and it's one that I've been passing on in my talks about gov 2.0.

In that regard, there's a great quote about Craigslist in the latest issue of Wired:

“If most people are good and their needs are simple, all you have to do to serve them well is build a minimal infrastructure allowing them to get together and work things out for themselves. Any additional features are almost certainly superfluous and could even be damaging.”
--Gary Wolf, Wired Magazine, Sept 2009

Even though I gave this book only three stars, it's worth reading for the first chapter.(less)

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Apr 06, 2012 CM rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I dont read very often from this genre, but this book came highly recommended from someone i have esteemed on their trustworthiness and integrity. Turns out i liked it. This book offers great insight on how to be a better human, friend, spouse, manager, employer, employee and business owner. everyone should implement the principles taught here. I listened to the audio and i'd recommend reading a hard copy because he follows an outline where he goes in depth on 4 core essentials and 13 trust demo...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Kent rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business, leadership

As is so often the case with books in the leadership genre, the concepts in The Speed of Trust are generally self-evident to most thinking people and come down to applying a common sense approach to one's interactions with others. That is not to diminish the importance of the message and content in this book. On the contrary, I find it significantly useful and motivational, but it isn't quite surprising or revelatory in nature.

I liked the Five Waves of Trust Model and found it to be a good overv...more

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Dec 11, 2008 Joseph rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

both skeptics and believers cld benefit from this book - it gives some understanding of one universal principal - trust

it has deeper meaning than what we usually connote the word with. i believe it shd not be confused with naivety because it's not. Covey argues (and i m convinced) that ultimately, trust pays off...

it sheds some light to my previous understanding of trust - that different people have different trust level:

(1) how do we set our trust in otrs? by (a) see/watch them (b) hear abt it...more

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Jul 22, 2008 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites

This phenomenal book has been out less than a year but I thought it just as good if not a better read than 7 Habits written by his father. This book so perfectly describes trust, breaks it down and shows how relevant it is in business, home, and all other arenas of life.

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May 04, 2009 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: My former boss

Shelves: business

This book makes a lot of common sense. Productivity in the workplace is indeed based on trust. If you are not trusted by your boss, he will check or will let your colleague check your work. However, the book did not talk much about how to re-gain trust which can easily be lost in the day-to-day office environment. Everyone starts with a clean slate with favorable (that’s why we are hired in the first place) trust index. However, even if we always work diligently, there will always come a time wh...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Ryan Giffen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Do you really know what "Trust" is? What does it mean to have "Trust" in an organization amongst all team players? Covey has done it again with this book. Organizational Teams who may be suffering from trusting one another as a means to advance themselves, will quickly learn the necessity of Trust amongst a team. As with other books, as an HR director, I required managers to go through this book as a means to understand the importance of trusting one another in the organization as a means to mee...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an excellent book, I would almost put it ahead of his father's classic "7 Habits".

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Mar 22, 2013 Zeke Herron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fantastic book. Covey Jr. writes extensively about the dividends and withdrawals of trust. Trust is intricately weaved into all of our daily lives and knowing what things/actions build or tear down trust is valuable. This is exactly what what Covey Jr. is trying to accomplish and he does it well.

The only thing I would advise, is to read the actual book and not get the audio book. Sadly, Covey Jr. is not as good as his dad at narrating. Other than that, it is a very important book when trying to...more

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Mar 11, 2011 Rolando Gill rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The idea that had the most impact on me, and it was apparent but I had not spent time thinking about it, was the trust tax. When I don't trust someone then I take everything they say and test it, filter it and verify it. That takes time and the person knows that I am delaying my approval and belief in them. It may delay or change my actions so that they negatively affect outcomes for all parties involved. When you trust someone that doesn't happen. Life is easier. How do you create trust? The bo...more

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Jul 29, 2011 irfan darian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some ideas are pretty much basic and common-sensical, but nonetheless Stephen has also managed to bring out the basic gist of what TRUST is all about. Short and simple case studies have managed to reinforce some of these ideas, albeit t does tend to have a very American slant to it, but hey, I got no problems with that. One principle that I have learnt though is the Peter Principle, an oxymoronic principle that basically states that one can indeed be promoted to a state of incompetence! Other th...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Cathy Allen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: whatiscathyreading-com, personal-development, business-success, organizational-life

Powerful, powerful, powerful! Before reading this book, I did not know anything about trust except that it is awfully difficult to rebuild once it has been violated. I never thought about the nature of trust, when and how we come to trust and distrust others, or when and how others come to trust or distrust us. But it turns out that this is very rich subject to explore. Covey's breakdown of the component parts of trust is clear and memorable, the very essence of excellent teaching. The action st...more Powerful, powerful, powerful! Before reading this book, I did not know anything about trust except that it is awfully difficult to rebuild once it has been violated. I never thought about the nature of trust, when and how we come to trust and distrust others, or when and how others come to trust or distrust us. But it turns out that this is very rich subject to explore. Covey's breakdown of the component parts of trust is clear and memorable, the very essence of excellent teaching. The action steps he lays out for building and rebuilding trust puts each of us in the driver's seat.

The author's father published a book in 1989 that included the following passage I had turned into a poster for my office wall: "If I try to use human influence strategies and tactics of how to get other people to do what I want, to work better, to be more motivated, to like me and each other - while my character is flawed, marked by duplicity and insincerity - then, in the long run, I cannot be successful. My duplicity will breed distrust, and everything I do - even using so-called good human relations techniques - will be perceived as manipulative. It simply makes no difference how good the rhetoric is or even how good the intentions are; if there is little or no trust, there is no foundation for permanent success. Only basic goodness gives life to technique." Those sentences have haunted me since I read them... and deep down inside I know this is the root cause of any unhappy relationship (personal or professional) in my life. I can embrace the Seven Habits and work on my character every day, and I do, but I never understood how I was affecting others until Covey, Jr. spelled it out in Speed of Trust. Reading this was a life changing moment for me as I am sure it will be for anyone who seeks to understand themselves and their interactions with others.

A word of caution to fellow professionals who work with groups and organizations: I've twice tried to use the exercises in this book to help clients move through planning when trust has broken down among a group of colleagues. Twice it has backfired, once quite disastrously. When people are feeling betrayed and angry with each other, they are looking for the outside consultant to come in and proclaim the others wrong. Powerful as self-assessment was for me, it is clear that unless people are ready to receive the message they will reject the messenger. I will continue to recommend the book and share the exercises in leadership development and training programs, or when asked about rebuilding trust, but otherwise keep what I have learned to myself. That is where it is most powerful, anyway.(less)

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Jun 20, 2012 Kelly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This has to be one of the lamest books I've ever read mostly because I can see corporations across America eating it up. I'm reading it for a Leadership Training class at present. The "CORE" argument of of the book is that one must increase trust with others in order to make relationships and work efficient and cost effective. I bet this book is handed out for free to employees businesses like it so much.

Ultimately, the book reads like a tea party opus. The book has some silly statements that r...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Carlo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone

Shelves: non-fiction, economics, psychology

In The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey (son of renowned author Stephen R. Covey (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People)), delves into the mechanics of trust, an element, which in spite the attention we think ourselves giving it, remains to a great extend underestimated. According to Covey, trust is the keystone for every relationship in our lives, including our relationship with ourselves.

The author does a great job in showing that trust is something we can recover. I believe this to...more In The Speed of Trust, Stephen M. R. Covey (son of renowned author Stephen R. Covey (The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People)), delves into the mechanics of trust, an element, which in spite the attention we think ourselves giving it, remains to a great extend underestimated. According to Covey, trust is the keystone for every relationship in our lives, including our relationship with ourselves.

The author does a great job in showing that trust is something we can recover. I believe this to be one of the most powerful ideas in the book. As individuals, we tend to think that trust is something unfixable and can’t be retrieved once lost. But the book shows different ways to help people recover their trust to themselves or to the people around them.

On the other hand, how can we determine who to trust? How can we know that we are trustable by other people? Here comes Covey and explains the key elements of trust which he calls the four cores: integrity, intent, capabilities, and results. Questioning these cores in others as well as ourselves can guide us in building trustful relationships in our lives, getting rid of the useless relationships with distrustful people, and enhancing our self-confidence and identity.

Covey also explores the different "types" of trust, which are highly correlated with one another: self trust, relationship trust, organizational trust, market trust, and societal trust. These five waves of trust, as the author calls them, are essential for the success and well being of not just ourselves, but our families, organizations, and societies as well. Throughout the book, the author emphasizes that the trust we build in our organizations and markets, is an echo of the trust we have in ourselves. I particularly liked when he talks about how trust can affect both speed and cost. The examples used to demonstrate this idea were very helpful and tangible, as the Warren Buffett’s acquisition of McLane Distribution from Wallmart. He shows how this 20$ billion acquisition took only two hours and a handshake due to the high trust both parties had in each other, and the whole merging process took less than a month instead of several months spent on formalities and millions paid to consultants and attorneys.

Covey also shows that it’s not only important to be trustable or to trust other people, but also to inspire them to trust themselves and one another and I think this is the essence of effective leadership in today's world.

Finally, the subject matter of this book may seem superficial for some (well, after all we all know that trust is important), but caught in our everyday lives, I can't help but realize that people underestimate trust or don't pay regard it as an asset. This book can be helpful in showing how trust can affect everything and how we can make our lives and surroundings better by utilizing it more effectively.(less)

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Jul 08, 2012 Kurt Gielen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Second time I read this book. Simply because I wasn't sure if I really didn't like this book the first time I read it, quite a few years ago now.
Turns out my memories were right.

As much as I agree with the basic theme of this book, I absolutely can not get through this book. The topic is good, the five waves all make sense, I felt that the details were just utterly unstructured and completely not linked together.
Or perhaps it's because trust has always been such an important part of my being tha...more

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Aug 12, 2008 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: professional-development

The message this book brings is outstanding! Covey identifies and discusses four core elements of trust -- integrity, intent, capabilities, and results. In some sense, he has simply redefined trust from what others have said about it. While I don't necessarily disagree, it is to some extent a matter of semantics. From that discussion of the core of trust, though, he moves into a very useful and relevant discussion and justification of 13 behaviors that create or sustain trust. Moving on, Covey t...more

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Nov 29, 2011 May rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: human-interaction

I really enjoyed this book and actually began quoting it before I even finished reading it. Covey just has a way of articulating things that is so completely clear.

I think the role of competency hit home. The problem in a lot of large organization is the wrong mix of competency and soft skills. Ego comes into play and suddenly communication is completely and utterly broken. Great read.

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Aug 22, 2012 Geary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Speed of Trust, clearly articulates an authentic definition of trust. Trust's foundation is credibility, which consists of integrity, intent (character) and capability, results (competence). And unless you assess and deal with each and every one of these principles, you cannot be truly and fully trusted! This read is one of the most profound pens I've ever read, bar none!

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Jan 19, 2013 Angela Dvorak rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book! It was given to me by a friend in my book club and I have since used in in several mentorship discussions and leadership discussions with peers and others. It is both helpful in a professional environment, but helped me to understand trust and the importance of congruence in my thoughts and actions in all facets of my life.

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Sep 25, 2012 Annie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: business-books

Loved this book and how it opened my mind to how trust, and more importantly trustworthiness, impacts and affects the bottom line--both professionally and personally. Trust is not soft--it's the key leadership competency of successful organizations. Imagine a government, organization, and family all built upon trust.

Read this for all kinds of reasons.

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Feb 18, 2011 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The author makes a good and well supported case for utilizing truth and trust in the workplace and home. Its good to reinforce these ideas every so often although one wonders why concepts as basic as honesty, trust and integrity are such a hard sell in the "real world". The book does repeat (and extend) concepts expressed by Stephen Covey Sr. in his books.

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Jun 30, 2009 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good professional and personal development book, which came recommended to me by my husband of course. He's really good with all of this leadership and management stuff and clearly from reading this, I have some brushing up to do! The Speed of Trust was a clearly written book with relevant points and actionable items that are applicable in the home and the workplace. Some of the areas about marketplace trust were not quite as relevant to me personally, but interesting nonetheless.

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Sep 06, 2011 Lucas Remmerswaal rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book! it had an immediate effect on me, and I've employed this habit throughout working on my project "13 Habits that made me Billions" series of books. They say it takes a village to raise a child, that requires trust! the speed of trust changes everything, read this book and employ this habits in your life!

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Dec 21, 2011 Mark Brightenburg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book provides a fantastic model of trust, which can be applied across every context I can think of. This book is just about as good a read as his father's book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." From the perspective of ethics in the workplace, this book is a must-read for every manager and leader.

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Sep 12, 2009 Jeankanghr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It is easy reading and practical book. Basic rules learned is: A person gains trust by demonstrate the character is with integrity & win-win intention and also with the capability and tracked result delivery. One point impressed me "People always judge themselves by intention and judge others by behavior."

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About Stephen M.R. Covey

Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world. He is the author of The SPEED of Trust, a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demon...more Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world. He is the author of The SPEED of Trust, a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver—a learnable and measurable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable, and relationships more energizing. He advocates that nothing is as fast as the speed of trust and that the ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders is the critical leadership competency of the new global economy. Covey passionately delivers that message and is dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to reap the dividends of high trust. Audiences and organizations alike resonate with his informed, practical approach to real-time issues that affect their immediate and long-term performance.
He is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which, under his stewardship, became the largest leadership development company in the world. Covey personally led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. A Harvard MBA, he joined Covey Leadership Center as a Client Developer and later became National Sales Manager and then President & CEO. Under Covey’s direction, the company grew rapidly and profitably, achieving Inc. 500 status. As President & CEO, he nearly doubled revenues to over $110 million while increasing profits by 12 times. During that period, both customer and employee trust reached new highs and the company expanded throughout the world into over 40 countries. This greatly increased the value of the brand and company. The company was valued at only $2.4 million when Covey was named CEO, and, within three years, he grew shareholder value to $160 million in a merger he orchestrated with then Franklin Quest to form FranklinCovey.
Over the years, Covey has gained considerable respect and influence with executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies as well as with mid- and small-sized private sector and public sector organizations he’s consulted. Clients recognize his unique perspective on real-world organizational issues based on his practical experience as a former CEO.
Covey currently serves on the board/advisory board of several entities, including the Human Performance Institute—the leader in energy management technology—where he serves as Advisory Board Chairman.
Covey resides with his wife and children in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.(less)

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“We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their behaviour.” — 31 people liked it

“Above all, success in business requires two things: a winning competitive strategy, and superb organizational execution. Distrust is the enemy of both. I submit that while high trust won't necessarily rescue a poor strategy, low trust will almost always derail a good one. ” — 6 people liked it

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