The Speed Of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything

Covey postulates that trust levels within an organization are reflected in its behavior and outcomes. While low-trust organizations are marked by manipulative behavior, tension, and stifled innovation, high-trust organizations encourage transparency, collaboration, innovation, and accountability. Covey posits that the misalignment of principles at individual and organizational levels often leads to reduced trust, emphasizing the role of systems, structures, and policies as powerful influencers of trust.

Covey highlights various instances of trust-building symbolic actions. The open-access policy of Hewlett-Packard, Nordstrom’s single-card employee handbook, and the transparent office setup of Dell Inc.’s leaders all serve as prime examples. Covey brings back the four “cores”—integrity, intent, capabilities, and results—which he argues organizations also must focus on for fostering trust. He posits trust as a structural and symbolic element that profoundly influences an organization’s function and prosperity.

Exploring the adverse effects of low trust within businesses, Covey utilizes real-life examples to demonstrate how distrust can trigger a slew of internal issues. He argues that leaders’ skepticism of employees can breed systems that propagate distrust, fostering a harmful cycle of skepticism. Conversely, leaders who invest trust in their teams lay the foundation for a virtuous cycle of trust. Covey insists that adopting trusting attitudes and behaviors can transform organizations into high-trust entities. He reintroduces the idea of “trust taxes,” this time locating them in hidden costs masked as other organizational issues, including redundancy, bureaucracy, disengagement, turnover, and fraud. To mitigate these “taxes,” Covey suggests leadership focus on character development and fostering a culture of ethical values.

Lastly, Covey outlines the seven tangible benefits—“dividends”—of high-trust organizations: increased value, accelerated growth, enhanced innovation, improved collaboration, stronger partnerships, better execution, and heightened loyalty. Covey contends that these dividends not only improve organizational performance but also build stronger relationships. By cultivating a culture of trust through alignment of values, behaviors, systems, and structures, organizations can reap significant rewards across all aspects. Covey concludes by extending these principles to families, asserting that alignment promotes high trust and associated dividends in any organization.

Covey delves into the concept of “market trust,” noting that a brand’s reputation is paramount in establishing trust within the marketplace. In his view, the trust that consumers have in a brand is the bedrock of its reputation, and that trust is shaped by their direct and indirect experiences. The importance of this trust is so profound that he considers a “brand” to be “trust monetized.” Covey proposes that trusted brands, which efficiently leverage this trust, are rewarded with customer loyalty, expeditious sales, and diminished marketing costs, consequently amplifying their profits. He accentuates that reputation is a quantifiable, tangible asset that significantly influences a brand’s success, as validated by Fortune magazine’s annual list of the world’s most admired companies.

Covey indicates that the principle of reputation applies to all entities, not merely companies. Governments, schools, charities, and individuals all bear reputations that greatly impact their opportunities, interactions, and success. He offers examples such as the reputation of a school district affecting families’ choice of residence and thereby influencing district funding and staff attractiveness or an individual’s reputation impacting their job prospects and social credibility. Covey similarly introduces the concepts of “country tax” and “industry tax.” He shows how a brand’s country of origin can influence consumer trust and how the reputation of an entire industry can affect trust of the brands within it. Covey reinforces the necessity for companies to develop reputations that surpass the trust typically attributed to their industries.

Covey then explores the rapid ascent of Google as compared to the precipitous falls of corporations like WorldCom and Enron, thereby underscoring the crucial role of trust in brand building and reputation management. Covey advises companies to fortify their four cores (integrity, intent, capabilities, and results) and demonstrate the 13 behaviors to enhance their reputations, bolster credibility, and increase consumer trust. Using the examples of Johnson & Johnson, eBay, and Superquinn, he illustrates the successful application of these behaviors in building market trust.

Covey emphasizes that a company’s trustworthiness and reputation are often mirrored in its employees’ behavior. He encourages individuals to introspect if they are “walking taxes” or “walking dividends,” underlining the importance of personal reputation in constructing trust within the marketplace.

Covey explores the role of trust within society, likening its significance to water for fish: ever present, often overlooked, yet fundamentally essential for survival. He accentuates the power of trust through the example of McDonald’s, which, due to its commitment to social responsibility, witnessed its restaurants remain unscathed during the 1992 Rodney King uprising.

Covey compares high-trust, open societies with low-trust, closed ones, illustrating how the latter breed fear and deception and hinder growth. He introduces the “principle of contribution,” emphasizing that generating value, giving back, and positively influencing society are key to cultivating societal trust. This principle, as he points out, is manifested by renowned figures like Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Bono, and Oprah Winfrey. He also commends the myriad smaller contributions of ordinary individuals, which cumulatively fortify the fabric of societal trust.

Moving on to corporate responsibility, Covey distinguishes between philanthropy and global citizenship. He asserts that the latter transcends simple charitable acts to embed ethics, social responsibility, and beneficial contributions into the core of a company’s mission and practices. He then delves into the paradigm shift toward global citizenship and conscious capitalism, elucidating the importance of trust, transparency, and social responsibility in a 21st-century economic framework. Microfinancing efforts like Grameen Bank and the emerging trend of microfranchising serve as key examples of this shift.

Covey reflects on the concept of “intentional virtue,” a principle Adam Smith identified as vital for economic prosperity. He criticizes the dilution of this principle in the late 20th century, resulting in greed, fraud, and a consequent erosion of societal trust. Despite this, Covey sees the dawn of a global trust renaissance, driven by a heightened awareness of the consequences of low trust and dedicated efforts to rebuild it.

Covey underscores that adopting global citizenship is both an economic imperative and an individual choice—one that requires a person to invest consciously in the welfare of others. He affirms that businesses demonstrating integrity, intent, capabilities, and results attract consumer preference. Personal and organizational credibility, according to Covey, are vital in promoting trust and global citizenship. He also introduces a universal mission statement aimed at enhancing the economic and life quality of all stakeholders.

In conclusion, Covey urges individuals to consider their roles in advancing global citizenship, insisting that it is a holistic choice influencing all aspects of life.