If there is one certainty about the future, it is that the future is uncertain. This perhaps represents the key challenge all leaders face—getting people to unite to pursue a common goal in an uncertain world. This is true whether leaders are trying to galvanise a nation behind their vision or simply implore a team to achieve this quarters targets. If they cannot get followers to trust in their leadership, it is unlikely they will achieve their goals.
You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don't trust enough.
Frank Crane
For this reason, trust is frequently lauded as an organisational asset, underpinning cooperative behaviour, reducing transaction costs, and promoting swift decision-making. FranklinCovey's Leading at the Speed of Trust program, based on Dr Stephen M.R. Covey's book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, posits that trust is both measurable and actionable. Leaders, the program suggests, can implement specific trust-building practices to achieve a 'trust dividend'—enhanced efficiency and lowered costs. Dr Covey's core thesis is that trust transforms organisations by reducing the need for extensive oversight, thereby increasing speed and cutting down administrative costs. However, a more nuanced examination reveals that trust's role in organisations is deeply complex, as it encompasses organisational structures, cultural norms, and intricate relational dynamics that challenge the program's rather mechanistic approach.
Key Strengths and Underlying Assumptions
The program revolves around Dr Covey's definition of trust:
Trust is confidence born of the character and the competence of a person or an organization. The opposite of trust is suspicion.
While character has been explored across a number of disciplines—philosophy, psychology, leadership to name a few—a consistent conceptualisation is that character is a manifestation of traits that are consistent across time and situations. Building on this base, the program identifies four cores of credibility that leaders must demonstrate to establish trust:
- Integrity: Acting with honesty, transparency, and consistency.
- Moral Authority: Demonstrating a strong sense of purpose, values, and ethics.
- Capabilities: Possessing the skills, knowledge, and expertise necessary to lead.
- Results: Delivering tangible results and outcomes.
