Stephanie Thoma's Reviews > The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything

The main message of this book is to lead with trust to give relationships the opportunity to flourish. Even if you're burned a few times, you will come out ahead of those who don't lead with trusting others who demoralize those they associate with. A bonus: Covey writes in a conversational and engaging way.

Takeaways:
- The story of Joe, an NYC donut shop with long lines eventually put out a jar for people to pay using a trust system, and they'd come up and get their donuts. People often appreciated being trusted so much that they paid more than what was due!
- Organizations leading w/ trust vs. tight contracts get a 300% larger return on average (what?)
- Trust = character (integrity) + competence
- Establish trust with one = establishing trust with many
- You can trust someone w/o thinking they are competent for a particular task. Perception of character is the mainstay marker of trust.
- 4 cores of credibility: 1. self 2. relationship 3. organizational 4. market
- "Self=trust is the first secret of success... the essence of heroism." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Keeping commitments becomes 1 of 2 choices: You can change your behavior to match your commitment, or you can lower your values to match your behavior."
- NGO orgs have the highest organizational trust rankings
- Talent provides a deeper well than skills
- "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less." - General Eric Shinseki
- Avoid the common tendency to put more energy into new relationships and assume people in existing relationships know you care. There is probably a greater need for demonstrations of concern in existing relationships.
- Stockdale Paradox (Jim Collins) You must never confuse faith... with the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your existing reality.
- A person will not ask for your advice until they feel understood by you. If someone's emotions are running high and you give premature advice, you will be ignored.
- One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied doing wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole." - Gandhi
- "He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he, too, must pass." - Lord Herbert
- "Better trust all and be deceived, And weep that trust, and that deceiving, Then doubt one heart that, if believed, Had blessed one's life with true believing." - Frances Anne Kemble