The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything »

Stephen M. R. Covey is cofounder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker, author, and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, Covey speaks to audiences around the world. A Harvard MBA, he is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which under his stewardship became the largest leadership development company in the world. Covey resides with his wife and children in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.

Stephen R. Covey is a renowned authority on leadership, a family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and vice chairman of FranklinCovey Co. The author of several acclaimed books, he has also received numerous honors and awards, including being named one of Time magazine's twenty-five most influential Americans. Covey lives with his wife, Sandra, and their family in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.

From Stephen R. Covey's eldest son comes a revolutionary new path towards productivity and satisfaction. Trust, says Stephen M.R. Covey, is the very basis of the new global economy, and he shows how trust—and the speed at which it is established with clients, employees and constituents—is the essential ingredient for any high–performance, successful organization.

For business leaders and public figures in any arena, The Speed of Trust offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in our every transaction and relationship—from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction—and how to establish trust immediately so that you and your organization can forego the time–killing, bureaucratic check–and–balance processes so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.

Publishers Weekly

Trust is so integral to our relationships that we often take it for granted, yet in an era marked by business scandals and a desire for accountability this book by leadership expert Covey is a welcome guide to nurturing trust in our professional and personal lives. Drawing on anecdotes and business cases from his years as CEO of the Covey Leadership Center (which was worth $160 million when he orchestrated its 1997 merger with Franklin Quest to form Franklin Covey), the author effectively reminds us that there's plenty of room for improvement on this virtue. Following a touching foreword by father Stephen R. Covey (author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and related books), the junior Covey outlines 13 behaviors of trust-inspiring leaders, such as demonstrating respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, delivering results and practicing accountability. Covey's down-to-earth approach and disarming personal stories go a long way to establish rapport with his reader, though the book's length and occasional lack of focus sometimes obscure its good advice. (Oct.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Foreword   Dr. Stephen R. Covey     xxiii
The One Thing That Changes Everything     1
Nothing Is as Fast as the Speed of Trust     3
You Can Do Something About This!     27
The First Wave-Self Trust: The Principle of Credibility     41
The 4 Cores of Credibility     43
Integrity Are You Congruent?     59
Intent What's Your Agenda?     73
Capabilities Are You Relevant?     91
Results What's Your Track Record?     109
The Second Wave-Relationship Trust: The Principle of Behavior     125
The 13 Behaviors     127
Talk Straight     136
Demonstrate Respect     144
Create Transparency     152
Right Wrongs     158
Show Loyalty     165
Deliver Results     172
Get Better     177
Confront Reality     185
Clarify Expectations     192
Practice Accountability     200
Listen First     208
Keep Commitments     215
Extend Trust     222
Creating an Action Plan     230
The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Waves-Stakeholder Trust     233
The ThirdWave-Organizational Trust The Principle of Alignment     236
The Fourth Wave-Market Trust The Principle of Reputation     261
The Fifth Wave-Societal Trust The Principle of Contribution     272
Inspiring Trust     285
Extending "Smart Trust"     287
Restoring Trust When It Has Been Lost     300
A Propensity to Trust     316
Notes and References     325
Index     339