Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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I bought this book thinking it was by Stephen R. Covey, not realizing this is a book by Covey's son, Stephen M. R. Covey. It was a happy accident because there is wisdom here, both Covey's own and terrific thoughts from respected business and other leaders. The basic premise is that big doesn't beat small in this marketplace - fast beats slow. And one of the ways to speed up your business is trust. A lack of trust, at every level, slows everything down. It creates meetings before the real meeting, and meetings after the real meeting. It creates hidden agendas, suspicion and extra steps - it's like a lack of trust tax on everything your company does.
Covey argues that trust is not soft stuff. This is hard, measurable stuff that impacts everything in your organization, including your family. The question that best predicts your team's performance is "Do you trust your boss?" He talks about several other related topics, including change and generosity. He says "Left untended, knowledge and skill, like all assets, depreciate in value - surprisingly quickly." He also shares the quote, "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less."
My only criticism of the book is the last quarter seemed unnecessary. It was sort of repetitive and workbook like. I could have stopped reading 50 pages before the end and enjoyed it just as much. But with that slight criticism, I give a thumbs' up to Stephen M.R. Covey's bestseller, The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything.
