In his 2006 New York Times Bestseller, The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey (son of Stephen R. Covey, author of the much celebrated book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) takes a refreshing new look at personal and organizational effectiveness and leadership and elegantly redefines what it is that lies at its core: the ability to build and maintain trust.
The Economics of Trust
This redefinition is predicated on a plain economic truth, namely that trust always affects two outcomes – speed and cost – and when trust goes down, speed also goes down and cost goes up. Drawing from his father’s concept of the “emotional bank account” introduced in The 7 Habits, Covey develops the idea of a “trust tax” and “trust dividend” to illustrate why it is that high trust comes with economic advantages. With this simple shift in perspective Covey places the issue of trust front and centre on the stage of contemporary business concerns, arguing that it has become “the key leadership competency of the new global economy.”
Redefining Leadership
Trust is an issue of leadership because it’s all about relationships. In fact, trust is a litmus test for the quality of any relationship. As Covey notes, “low trust is the very definition of a bad relationship.” And just as trust defines the quality of a relationship, so too does it define the quality of leadership. Indeed, for Covey trust redefines the very notion of leadership itself: “leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.”
Trust is more than just a warm and fuzzy feeling people get if they like you; fundamentally, it’s also about your ability to get results. Covey explains this double aspect of trust in terms of character and competence. On the one hand, character includes your integrity, motivations, and intent with people. On the other, competence includes your capabilities, skills, results, and track record. Both are integral to leadership; both are prerequisites for trust.
The 5 Waves of Trust
Since trust is a matter of leadership, and since leadership is an art practiced at many levels, Covey builds a model of trust that seeks to explain how it works across all levels, from micro to macro. Like concentric ripples emanating from a stone thrown into water, this model is comprised of five waves flowing from the inside-out.
The First Wave: Self-Trust
At the very heart of the model is the first wave: self-trust. The idea here is simple: you cannot inspire trust in others until you inspire trust in yourself. Because of this, Covey gives the issue of self-trust primary importance in his model.
For Covey, the key principle underlying self-trust is credibility. Credibility has four main aspects to it: i) integrity; ii) intent; iii) capabilities; and iv) results. Since these stem directly from the double aspects of character and competence inherent to trust, in Covey’s model self-trust and credibility are virtually synonymous.
According to Covey, the first element of credibility – integrity – is built upon four key virtues: i) honesty; ii) congruence; iii) humility; and iv) courage. Honesty is when your words match your thoughts. Congruence is when your actions match your values. Humility is when your intentions go beyond yourself. And courage is when your conviction to act on your intentions is stronger than your fear of doing so.
As important as integrity is, intent – the second element of credibility – appears to be Covey’s favorite. Intent is all about genuine caring, acting in the best interest of others, and seeking mutual benefit. It is the rough equivalent of the fourth habit identified by his father in The 7 Habits: “think win-win”. Invoking what he calls the “trustee standard”, Covey plainly explains the importance of intent as follows: “When we believe people truly are acting in our best interest, we tend to trust them. When we believe they are not acting in our best interest, we do not trust them. It’s that simple.”
As Covey explains it, the third element of credibility – capabilities – is all about TASKS: talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and style. The more aligned your TASKS are with your role, the greater your credibility in that role is. And the more you work on that alignment (either by improving your TASKS or adjusting your role), the greater your credibility in that role will become.
While the first three elements of credibility are key, at the end of the day it’s the fourth element – results – that matters most. You may have all the integrity in the world, you may have the best of intentions, and you may even be highly capable, but if you can’t deliver results, credibility and self-trust just won’t be there. As Covey bluntly puts it: “You may have excuses. You may even have good reasons. But at the end of the day, if the results aren’t there, neither is the credibility and neither is the trust. It’s just that simple; it’s just that harsh.”
The Second Wave: Relationship Trust
Once you have attained a sufficient level of credibility and self-trust, you are then able to move to the second wave: relationship trust. The key principle underlying relationship trust is consistent behavior. As Covey explains it, there are 13 behaviors that, when consistently applied, enhance relationship trust. These 13 behaviors are: i) talking straight; ii) showing respect; iii) being transparent; iv) righting wrongs; v) showing loyalty; vi) delivering results; vii) improving continuously; viii) facing reality; ix) clarifying expectations; x) practicing accountability; xi) listening first (the fifth of The 7 Habits); xii) keeping commitments; and xiii) extending trust.
Each of these behaviors is a natural corollary to at least one of the four main elements of credibility and self-trust. For example, if you have a high level of integrity you will be more inclined to talk straight, show loyalty, and keep commitments. If you have good intent, you will more easily demonstrate respect, listen first, and extend trust. If you have strong capabilities – especially if you have a positive attitude – you will naturally focus more on getting better at what you do, confronting reality, and practicing accountability. And finally, if you are able to deliver the results required for self-trust, you will also be able to deliver the results required for relationship trust, for the two are one-in-the-same.
The Third Wave: Organizational Trust
With sufficient relationship trust, on the third wave leadership begins to transcend the interpersonal domain and move into the realm of organizational trust. Here the operating principle is alignment. Just as congruence is about matching the actions and values of an individual, alignment is about matching the actions and values of an organization. Since an organization is an agglomeration of individuals, building organizational trust not only involves aligning the actions and values of the organization itself, but also the actions and values of the individuals within it. The end result is a more harmonious organization with common values and a shared vision – an organization in which low trust taxes such as politics, disengagement, and turnover are reduced, and high trust dividends like loyalty, teamwork, and creativity accrue as a matter of course.
The Fourth Wave: Market Trust
When a company has achieved a sufficient level of organizational trust, it is then ready to reap the benefits of the fourth wave: market trust. The key principle underlying this wave is reputation. Just as a leader who achieves a high level of self-trust naturally earns the trust of the individuals that surround her (and therefore enjoys a strong personal reputation), so too does an organization that achieves organizational trust naturally earn the trust of the players in the market that surround it (and therefore enjoys a strong organizational reputation). As with each of the waves, low trust taxes fall, high trust dividends rise.
The Fifth Wave: Societal Trust
Once you and your organization have passed through the first four waves of trust, you can then move to the fifth and final wave: societal trust. The key principle underlying this wave is contribution. Societal trust is the wave of social responsibility. Just as individual humility stems from selfless personal intentions for the benefit of others, so too does organizational humility stem from selfless organizational intentions for the benefit of others. And just as individual humility increases trust in the individual by all those around him, so too does organizational humility increase trust in the organization by all those around it. The end result is an organization that is cherished not only by its leadership; not only by its employees; not only by its direct stakeholders; but also by its indirect stakeholders: society at large. And that is a remarkable achievement of trust.
The Primacy of Credibility and Self-Trust
While realizing trust at any of the outer waves is a remarkable achievement, the fact that it all starts with the credibility and self-trust of leadership itself serves as an important reminder of the primacy of the every leader’s personal responsibility for nurturing trust in themselves. Without the trust of leadership in itself, there can be no trust in leadership from others in the organization. Without trust in leadership from others in the organization, there can be no trust in the organization itself. Without trust in the organization itself, there can be no trust from the direct stakeholders in the market. And without trust from direct stakeholders, there can be no trust from the indirect stakeholders in society at large. At the end of the day, when it comes to trust and leadership, the words of Mahatma Gandhi ring loud and clear: “you must be the change you want to see in the world.”
Leadership is a sweet onion that can either nourish us or make us cry. Covey has done a remarkable job of peeling back its layers and nourishing us with an in-depth look of what may well be the core leadership issue of our time: trust. If you’re interested in earning a high trust dividend either for yourself or your organization, you’d do well to pick up a copy of The Speed of Trust and internalize its message. Failure to do so will surely result in tears.
