Covey’s Speed of Trust 3: Character and Competence

This continues our review of Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust. I share tidbits to encourage you to buy the book, study it carefully, and implement its teachings.

Covey writes “Most of us tend to think about trust in terms of character—of being a good or sincere person or of having ethics or integrity. And character is absolutely foundational and essential. But as I suggested in the previous chapter, to think that trust is based on character only is a myth.”

Trust: a Function of Character and Competence

I agree with Covey’s premise about character and competence

• “Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people”
• “Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record”
• “Both are vital”

Covey states that, even as society reinforces ethics, ethics alone will not engender trust. People must note the ethics, integrity, and character of a person to trust them, He writes

• “You might think a person is sincere, even honest, but you won’t trust that person fully if he or she doesn’t get results”
• “And the opposite is true”
• “A person might have great skills and talents and a good track record, but if he or she is not honest, you’re not going to trust that person either.”

Elements that Support and Develop Trust

The chart at the top of the post shows 4 cores of credibility for both character and competence:

• Character uses two cores: intent and integrity.
  • Good intents include caring, transparency, and openness
  • Integrity includes honesty, fairness, and authenticity
• Competence uses two cores: capability and results.
  • Capability includes skills, knowledge, and experience
  • Results develop your reputation, credibility, and performance

Others Confirm This Principle

Covey shares quotes from other leaders that confirm the dual factors of trust:

• Jack Welch “Live the values” (character) and “Deliver results” (competence)
• Warren Buffett prioritizes “integrity” (character) and “intelligence” (competence)
• Jim Collins describes level 5 leaders possessing “extreme personal humility (character) and “intense professional will” (competence)
• Ram Charan emphasizes “a leader of the people” (character) and a “leader of business” (competence)

Monday we will introduce Covey’s Five Waves of Trust

Covey’s Speed of Trust 3: Character and Competence

This continues our review of Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust. I share tidbits to encourage you to buy the book, study it carefully, and implement its teachings.

Covey writes “Most of us tend to think about trust in terms of character—of being a good or sincere person or of having ethics or integrity. And character is absolutely foundational and essential. But as I suggested in the previous chapter, to think that trust is based on character only is a myth.”

Trust: a Function of Character and Competence

I agree with Covey’s premise about character and competence

• “Character includes your integrity, your motive, your intent with people”
• “Competence includes your capabilities, your skills, your results, your track record”
• “Both are vital”

Covey states that, even as society reinforces ethics, ethics alone will not engender trust. People must note the ethics, integrity, and character of a person to trust them, He writes

• “You might think a person is sincere, even honest, but you won’t trust that person fully if he or she doesn’t get results”
• “And the opposite is true”
• “A person might have great skills and talents and a good track record, but if he or she is not honest, you’re not going to trust that person either.”

Elements that Support and Develop Trust

The chart at the top of the post shows supporting elements to both character and competence:

• Character adds to trust because of intent and integrity.
  • Good intents include caring, transparency, and openness
  • Integrity includes honesty, fairness, and authenticity
• Competence involves both capability and results.
  • Capability includes skills, knowledge, and experience
  • Results develop your reputation, credibility, and performance

Others Confirm This Principle

Covey shares quotes from other leaders that confirm the dual factors of trust:

• Jack Welch “Live the values” (character) and “Deliver results” (competence)
• Warren Buffett prioritizes “integrity” (character) and “intelligence” (competence)
• Jim Collins describes level 5 leaders possessing “extreme personal humility (character) and “intense professional will” (competence)
• Ram Charan emphasizes being “a leader of the people” (character) and a “leader of business” (competence)

Monday we will introduce Covey’s Five Waves of Trust

Covey’s Speed of Trust 2: Trust Taxes & Trust Dividends

This continues our review of Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust. I strongly encourage you to buy the book, read it a few times, and implement his counsel.

Stephen M. R. Covey illustrates what he calls “The Economics of Trust”. He clearly demonstrates how trust impacts the speed and cost to organizations. He dispels the myth that trust is a nice-to-have, but non-essential element in business. He helps you quantify the impact, negative or positive, trust levies on you.

A Simple Formula

He writes “Here’s a simple formula that will enable you to take trust from an intangible and unquantifiable variable to an indispensable factor that is both tangible and quantifiable. The formula is based on this critical insight: Trust always affects two outcomes speed and cost. When trust goes down, speed will also go down and costs will go up.”

 Trust =   Speed  h Cost

When trust goes up, speed will also go up and costs will go down

h Trust =  h Speed i Cost

Trust Taxes & Trust Dividends

Use this formula to factor whether you pay a trust tax or dividend.

You pay a trust tax each time someone discounts what you say because they do not trust you, or when you discount what someone says because you don’t trust them. When trust goes down, so does speed and costs go up. Your pay a tax for the mistrust.

You receive a trust dividend when people act faster because they trust you. I’ve seen many situations where staff performed faster, better, and more because they trusted someone or the cause they worked to expand. Business deals proceed faster when both sides trust each other. Trust truly pays a financial dividend in speed and cost.

Trust: the Hidden Variable

Covey presents that trust is hidden variable in business. He modifies the traditional business formula: SxE=R (Strategy times execution equals results). He adds trust as a component of the formula: (SxE)T=R ([Strategy times execution] times trust equals results)

Please buy and study Covey’s book.

Friday we review how character & competence affect trust

Covey’s Speed of Trust 1: Pervasive Lack of Trust

This begins a series reviewing and discussing Stephen M. R. Covey’s book Speed of Trust

I’m reading Stephen M. R. Covey’s book Speed of Trust and thoroughly enjoying it. He addresses a growing problem that divides America. We don’t trust each other. Voters do not trust government. Government does not trust citizens. Employees don’t trust management. Management does not trust workers. Growing divorce rates indicate spouses don’t trust their companions. Covey correctly assesses a fundamental problem in the world..

An Example

Last week I ate dinner with a couple I had never met. The conversation turned to what I do for a living. I help people turn work into jobs they love and to earn the biggest raises and the best promotions.

Both the husband and wife stated they couldn’t get raises because they work for the government. The husband, who works for his state’s Department of Correction informed me that his department did not give merit or cost-of-living raises. His wife told me she had not received a raise at her work in county government for three years.

Our conversation bothered me. After tossing and turning in bed for two hours, I arose at 5am to research their assertions. Since both worked in the public sector their salaries were published.

To my dismay, I found they were correct. In fact, I read several stories about salary disputes in his state’s Department of Corrections. The legislature passed a mere 1% salary increases for his state’s Department of Corrections. At the same time, the state had decreased the department’s budget between 3-7.8% each year for 6 years. The director of the department did not pass on the salary increases in 3 of 5 years. In June of this year, several corrections employees filed suit to receive the promised pay increases.

A Growing Trend

Practices like this and others similar to it—on both sides—create divisions that affect all of us emotionally and financially. Covey offers insights that can affect your career. I strongly encourage you to read Speed of Trust.

Wednesday we will examine Covey’s concept of trust taxes and trust dividends

Find Funding for College 21: In Summary

This concludes our series on finding funding for college

We covered a lot of information in the previous posts. So, we thought we would put all the pieces back together in this final post on the subject.  Then you can accelerate your efforts to get the money you deserve. We hope it helps you.

5 Steps

1. Set a goal for how much money you want.  Recognize funding committees want to give the money to someone like you. Then, act with confidence and excellence
2. Find the financial aid through Internet scholarship search engines, high school guidance counselors, scholarship books, local organizations, and other sources
3. Prepare a master application containing the answers to all application questions. Include a list of awards, performances, competitions, and transcripts. Highlight 4 themes with 3 categories for each one. Write 3 home run statements for each category
4. Write 5-6 essays on topics preferred by scholarship committees. Edit them 2-3 times with an English teacher. Make minor adaptations as you submit them
5. Obtain letters of recommendation from people at work, in school, or at church. Ask the director of each organization you include in a service project to write a letter. Coordinate so that your letters restate your home run statements. That adds credibility to your application.

Stick With It

If you have a 3.0 grade point average or higher, and follow these steps, you will get some money. Everyone who ever followed this formula—and did not get money—either had a GPA below 3.0, or failed to include #, $, % in their home run statements, or were applying to attend for-profit, proprietary schools. We state publicly, this system will not work in the case of too low a GPA, poorly prepared materials, or for-profit proprietary schools.

Let us conclude with a return on investment analysis. Let us assume that you spend:

• 20 hours and only get $1,000. You earned $50 an hour
• 60 hours and get $25,000. You earned $417 an hour
• 80 hours and get $100,000. You earned $1,250 an hour

Those are pretty good salaries for a 17 or 57 year old! Don’t give up!

Find Funding for College 20: Get Help or Do This in Groups

This continues our series about how to find funding for college

Completing all the work we’ve discussed in previous posts requires a lot of work. Finding all the sources of grants, scholarships, work-study, and even loans takes time. Preparing reusable master applications, essays, and letters of recommendation intimidates most potential college students—youth or adults. Doing it all by yourself increases anxiety and can cause you to quit. So, build a team of people who support and assist you.

Several People Will Help…

• High school guidance counselors (if you are still in high school or recently graduated) can help you find financial aid and prepare your reusable materials. Ask the one who maintains the scholarship information on your high school’s web page.
• College financial aid counselors will help you with money specific to their school, but usually not outside sources. For-profit, proprietary colleges generally do not receive a lot of scholarships, but they will help you apply for grants and lots of loans. They help with your FAFSA.
• English teachers can help you prepare reusable essays and other reusable materials—if asked appropriately. They will review and edit your essays and master application 2-3 times to make them perfect.
• Parents share a great motivation to help you find funding for college. The more you find, the less they pay. Let them help. Don’t fight them.
• Friends can work together to find and apply for financial aid. Frequently, your friends share some of the same themes and experiences. You can help one another remember and prepare home run statements. Stay focused. Don’t just play.

…If You Ask Nicely

We expect teachers and guidance counselors to do more work than possible, with huge caseloads—and for tiny, inadequate salaries. They will work hard for serious students. So, we suggest you use ask for help using the following script:

“Mr. or Ms. Smith, I’m going to apply for more than 100 grants and scholarships. Would you help me make sure my master application (or essays, or letters of recommendation) are perfect?”

Friday we will summarize all the steps and put them together into an efficient process

Find Funding for College 19: Letters of Recommendation

This continues our series on preparing reusable materials to get money for college

Most financial aid application packets will require you to attach letters of recommendation to your application. Some people wait to obtain letters of recommendation until they complete the application. They fail to request reusable letters they can attach to multiple applications. They hesitate to ask permission to change the address and salutation lines of the letter. Forethought can enhance the quality and power of your letters of recommendation. You need 5-8 letters.

Sources of Letters of Recommendation

You may ask a variety of people to write you letters of recommendation. You may begin collecting letters before you begin applying for financial aid. Several people can provide you with excellent letters of recommendation:

• School leaders: teachers, coaches, counselors, principals, and club advisors
• Community leaders: directors of organizations you lead, serve, or join
• Work leaders: your supervisor, manager, business owner, client, or supplier
• Church leaders: your pastor, youth pastor, teachers, and others
• Influential people you know: family, friends, and corporate executives

The former dean of admissions for the Harvard Medical School advised “Most students ask someone that knows Harvard to provide a letter of recommendation. You need to ask someone that Harvard knows. That’s impressive.”

Tips for Great Letters of Recommendation

Your letters of recommendation attest to your character, personal traits, themes, and reasons you deserve the financial aid. The following tips can help you obtain great letters of recommendation:

• Offer to draft the letter for them to edit or change in any way they wish
• Ask an English teacher to review and edit the draft of the letter you prepare
• Provide letter writers with home run statements that apply to your work with them
• Ask for letters from advisors and service project recipients at the time of service
• Ask for an e-copy of the letter on electronic letterhead for more impressive images
• Scan hardcopy letters so that you have an electronic copy with letterhead
• Keep letters to one page with three parts: introduction, body, conclusion

Wednesday we will discuss how to put reusable materials into an application process