Covey shares a quote from a Financial Times editorial “Executives tempted to take shortcuts should remember the dictum of Confucius that good government needs weapons, food, and trust. If the ruler cannot hold onto all three, he should give up weapons first and food next. Trust should be guarded to the end, because ‘without trust, we cannot stand.”
An Example from McDonald’s
Covey shares a story from the riots that followed the Rodney King trial. He pointed out that in all the neighborhoods destroyed by fire, looting, and riot; “Amazingly all the McDonald’s restaurants with in the devastated area were untouched. They stood as unscathed beacons in the midst of the blackened ruins.”
“Obviously the question arose: Why should the McDonald’s buildings be left standing when nearly everything around them was destroyed? The responses of local residents carried a common thread: ‘McDonald’s cares about our community. They support literacy efforts and sports programs. Young people know they can always get a job at ‘Mickey D’s.’ No one would want to destroy something that doe so much good for us all.”
“McDonald’s sense of social responsibility created societal trust, and that trust produced clearly observable and measurable results.”
The Principle of Contribution
Covey writes “The overriding principles of societal trust is contribution. It’s the intent to create value instead of destroy it, to give back instead of take. And more and more, people are realizing how important contribution—and the causes it inspires—are to a healthy society.”
Covey talks of personal, global contributions. “We see that trust at the Fifth Wave is a direct result of trustworthiness that begins in the First Wave and flows outward in our relationships, in our organizations, and in the marketplace to fill society as a whole”
“Friday we conclude our review of the book with how to rebuild trust when it’s lost
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