Can a Book Change Your Life – Only If You Let It! A review of Stephen MR Covey’s “The Speed of Trust”.

What one book has made the most power difference in your life?

I recently took myself off on holiday to a warm destination that offered many different ways to relax, rejuvenate and pamper myself.  As you do I took a couple of books with me to occupy my time.

I didn’t realise the significance of the book I had taken to read ‘for work purposes’.  It was just the right book to read at that time and completed a piece of the puzzle I was looking for and hadn’t been able to see it right in front of my nose (sound familiar?)

That book is The Speed of Trust by Stephen MR Covey.  Don’t mistake Stephen for his father, he is the son of the voice of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and is a leadership expert in his own right.

What was the key message you took from the book?

Stephen describes thirteen behaviours of trust-inspiring leaders and draws a diagram to illustrate his thinking in the form of a tree of trust.

These are extremely useful tools and what I personally took from the book was the following:

• Trust is not taught but modelled.  Where it is not modelled, demonstrated or tested it is only assumed
• How can you trust others if you can’t trust yourself
• Once you lose trust it CAN be rebuilt and quicker than you think
• Trust opens you up to being vulnerable which allows communication to flow freely and clearly.

“Trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don’t; rather trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create – much faster than you probably think possible.” SMR Covey

Why did it mean so much to you?

So why did this book mean so much to me when on the surface it appears to be written for CEO’s and senior managers?  You can apply the theory / tools / philosophies from The Speed of Trust into any area of your life.  

It facilitated the thinking and mind mapping of my own Tree of Trust, my own Four Cores of Credibility (integrity, intent, capabilities and results) and lead me to question the level of trust in my own relationships.

I also learnt that being vulnerable is not a weakness; it just means I am a human being.

Who should read this book?

The beauty of The Speed of Trust is that it will be well received by anyone who would like to evaluate the level of trust in their working and personal lives.  To understand and define what trust means to you as an individual; how you can earn trust from others, and the impact when self- trust is not a core belief.

http://www.speedoftrust.com/

About the author

With Tracy you can be sure that your career goals, whether you're changing jobs mid career or later in life, will be met with a customised career coaching programme. Coaching opens the mind to alternatives, new thinking, solutions and different ways of approaching situations. It is also a time of reflection, self-evaluation and big picture thinking.