Covey’s Speed of Trust 13: 5th & 6th Behaviors

This continues our review of Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust. Buy the book Discover it for yourself.

People frequently violate Behavior 5, Show Loyalty, when they talk about people behind their back. You witness such disloyalty in informal settings at lunch or social activities after work. When someone leaves the group and others begin to criticize or gossip about them. People who do not show loyalty fail to recognize they pay trust tax. Trust also drops when you fail to Deliver Results or deliver them poorly. Deliver Results is the 6th Behavior to Relationship Trust (The 2nd Wave of Trust)

The 5th Behavior of Relationship Trust: Show Loyalty

Covey focuses on two dimensions to Show Loyalty: giving credit to others and speaking of people as though they were present.

• “Give Credit to Others…You not only affirm the value of an individual’s contributions, you also create an environment in which people feel encouraged to be innovative and collaborative and to freely share ideas, kicking in the geometric trust multiplier.”
  • The opposite is to take credit yourself for the work of others.
  • The counterfeit is to give credit to someone when they’re with you, but then downplay their contribution and take all the credit when they are not there.”
•  Talk About People as if They Were Present…The key is to talk in a way that shows respect. Defend them as if they were present. Don’t disclose private conversations. Go directly to the person with whom you have a concern
  • The opposite: criticize or not represent them fairly when they are not present.
  • The counterfeit: sweet-talk people to their faces and bad-mouth them behind their backs.

The 6th Behavior of Relationship Trust: Deliver Results

Covey writes “Results give you instant credibility and instant trust. They give you clout.”

• Results provide a powerful tool for building trust in your relationship with others. You must clarify “good”, “mediocre”, and “great” results.
• The opposite is performing poorly or failing to deliver
• The counterfeit is delivering activities instead of results

Wednesday we examine Covey’s 7th & 8th behaviors: Get Better & Confront Reality