Leading with Trust | An Interview with Stephen M. R. Covey

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Steven M. R. Covey is the son of Steven R. Covey of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and co-founder of Covey Link and the Franklin Covey Global Speed of Trust practice. He is a highly sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, ethics, sales, and high performance, and speaks to audiences around the world. He is also the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal best-selling author of “The Speed of Trust”, which teaches 13 Behaviors of High Trust Leaders. This is a groundbreaking, paradigm-shifting book that challenges the assumption that trust is merely a soft social virtue, demonstrating that it is instead a hard-edge economic driver. Trust is a learnable skill that makes organizations more profitable, people more promotable and relationships more energizing.

Highlights

3:19 What it was like growing up in the Covey home and how the principles his father was teaching in the marketplace were first taught in the home. Things like “green & clean”, “listen first”. The principles in the book were for the marketplace but were started at home with his family. They were the guinea pigs of “7 habits”. 4:40 How he started on the business side but shifted career path to current leadership roles 5:20 Not one thing that lead to “trust” as his focus, but many different things that lead to that.

There is a high cost to low trust
Trust is learnable
Trust is not just a good thing, and social thing but it is a multiplier and key to leadership. All things are better with trust.
Trust and love are critical, you can love and not trust but it is best to have both. It is better to be trusted than loved. (David O McKay) Love is critical.
It applies to everything, business, church, marriage, every level of human interaction.

10:40 “Fish are the last ones to discover water.” How to determine amount of trust when we are called to a position. We need to be intentional, not just use position power, but rely on credibility, influence, trust. Seek best interest of others. 12:50 Positions may not come with trust. Description of low trust tax, that may confer to us from prior leaders, as well as low trust dividend. 14:00 Trust is built through our credibility and behavior:

Credibility: character trust (integrity, intent, care, more about others well-being, showing we care) and competence trust (current, learning, performance, do what we say)
Behavior – how we do whatever we do, we want to model behavior that builds trust
We want leaders that care, and are very competent as well. We don’t have to be perfect, we have to be willing

23:00 We need to look in the mirror and see how we are doing with trust. 24:10 How do we help those who have a deficit of trust – first look inward. How do I focus on my credibility, my confidence?

Declare intent – what you are doing and why.
Extend trust to others, people will return the trust. There is a risk. We are good at understanding trustworthiness, but not always good at understanding the importance of extending trust – trust others.
The quickest way to make someone trustworthy, is to extend trust to them.

28:50 Don’t treat people according to their behavior, treat them according to their potential. They will rise to that trust. 29:30 Behaviors that build trust:

Extend Trust – make sure they know you “trust” them to fulfill their calling
Clarify Expectations
Practice Accountability

33:45 “To be trusted in the most inspiring form of human motivation”. It brings out the best in people. Less micro-management and better trust returned to you. 34:45 Our positions/hierarchy type leadership need to be changed to a leadership of trust & inspire. If we trust people, they will perform better 37:30 Two more behaviors identified:

Council – should be collaborative — listen first, try to understand, and reflect that you are trying to understand. Not judging, not agreeing, not disagreeing, just listening.
Demonstrate respect for what you hear. Most people listen with the intent to reply; we need to listen with the intent to understand.
This will lead to openness, authenticity, collaboration and real communication

42:15 “Psychological air”: we fight for air when we don’t feel heard and understood. If we listen to understand, we are giving them “air” 44:15 Where do we start, as a leader, to build trust?

Look in the mirror
Give those you serve a leader they can trust
Declare intent
Lead out by extending trust to others. There is a risk to trust, but a greater risk NOT to trust.

47:25 How have these principles made you a better disciple of Jesus Christ?