The Speed of Trust – Didn’t we already do this?

“There is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy, and civilization throughout the world—one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love. On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. Yet, it is the least understood, most neglected, and most underestimated possibility of our time. That one thing is trust.”― Stephen M.R. Covey

The first thing that happened when I saw this book on the shelf was to ask myself the question I posed, above: Didn’t we already do this? I mean, I’ve read the book a couple of times… most recently over the summer this year while in sales training.

So, I went and searched… nope!… although I did write about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by the senior Covey, Stephen R, who passed away in 2012. I LOVED that book and even included a YouTube video I liked. He was certainly something!

Anyway, the Sr. Covey is not to be confused with the younger Covey who wrote the book I’m discussing today. That’s Stephen M. R. Covey. (As an aside, I bet their credit reports still get allllll tangled up. But I digress.)

FYI: Covey Sr. had four sons. Only the one has his his name. Not that I expected more… it’s not like he’s George Foreman (and his five sons all named George). Yes, I know, digressed again.

To make things even more confusing, there is Franklin Covey. Not a son or … in fact… a person in physical skin. From their website:

Franklin Covey Co., trading as FranklinCovey and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is a provider of leadership, individual effectiveness, and business execution training and assessment services for organizations and individuals. Covey Leadership CenterFounders: Stephen Covey, Hyrum W. Smith

My question then becomes… founded by which Stephen Covey? So, I went to look it up and was faced with this photo. It’s Sr. alright! Looking downright … overjoyed? He was an excitable one! 🙂

Oh yeah, and the elder Covey also got a nod from me in this blog post about remarriage. He, Covey, wrote a “Remarriage Mission Statement” that I shared. Loved that, too.

PHEW!!!!

No wonder I thought I’d written about The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey.

Let me tell you: I LOVED THIS BOOK, TOO.

Go figure.

Check this out:

“In a high-trust relationship, you can say the wrong thing, and people will still get your meaning. In a low-trust relationship, you can be very measured, even precise, and they’ll still misinterpret you.”― Stephen M.R. Covey

OMG, you could stop reading right there! All done! Am I right?

This book is jam-packed with so much good stuff!

“The only way to build trust professionally or personally is by being trustworthy” – Gerad Arpey, CEO, American Airlines

So, the question then becomes… “How Credible Are You?”

There’s a questionnaire for that! It distills things down to what Covey calls, “The 4 Cores”