BOOK REVIEW
Stephen M. R. Covey addresses the trust factor of the personal and professional realm in The Speed of Trust. Trust is the key issue affecting relationships. Covey provides information to take low trust and develop trust through key behaviors. As trust increases in relationships, results occur a lot quicker, saving time and money for businesses.
The speed of trust is astounding. Trusting people around you helps life run smoother. In business, trust speeds up the process of completing tasks. If an employer believes in his team then delegating tasks and knowing what they will get done is not a problem. If the team can’t be trusted to finish tasks, then the business will suffer. Often this causes high employee job dissatisfaction and turnover. The business then suffers costly losses in time and money as they train new employees. Businesses come out better by increasing trust in their staff.
Trust increases quickly. It means confidence in the abilities of others. Trusting others comes from four cores of credibility. These cores are integrity, intent, capability, and results. These cores are your character and your competence. Integrity and intent are part of the character of a person. They really come with that person into the job. For many jobs now this is the price of admissions.
After the economic downturn, employers stopped seeking employees who could deliver results no matter the consequences, and rightfully hired workers that wouldn’t compromise work ethic values. Capability and results are the competency component. Capability comes from your education, your background, and your training. Capability can be increased over time through constant training. An employee that is capable and trains to do a job can deliver results. Trust builds from knowing that a person has good character and is competent. If either of these things is at doubt the speed of trust is reduced.
Developing trust happens over time. You do not have to blindly trust others. Instead, Covey proposes you build trust accounts with people. A person that betrays you reduces your trust in them and you pay a trust tax for dealing with that person in any capacity. A person that gives you no reason to doubt them and proves themselves time and time again, pays trust dividends. The math is fairly simple but the point is that people can either deplete what they have in a relationship with you or build what they have in a relationship with you.
Covey proposes 13 behaviors that are key in trust building. Those behaviors affect whether you want to deal with things on a personal or professional level. The 13 behaviors examined in this book are a critical way of examining relationships with others, changing behavioral exchanges with others, and developing trust in the process.
Expanded trust leads to growth. The growth will come in business, in relationships with others, throughout the community, and within an organization. Decreased trust results in what we are seeing now on a societal level: doubt. We doubt our leaders, we doubt our strength, we doubt the country, we doubt our employers, we doubt our families, and we doubt ourselves. We are weakened in doubt instead of strengthened through trust.
Covey presents a book with sound strategies regarding trust. The speed of trust is the one thing that changes everything for the better.
– Angelic Jones is a freelance writer for Austin Weekly News.
CONTACT: ajoneswrites4u@excite.com
