Steven M.R. Covey, author of The
Speed of Trust
, was the opening keynote speaker today at the SIIA Content
Forum in San Francisco.

Covey believes “trust is a
hard edged economic driver because it always addresses speed and cost.”

When trust decreases,
speed decreases, and costs rise.

Covey also believes that
trust is a key leadership competency in the new economy.

Trust is needed to acquire
and keep customers, create and maintain community, and inspire and retain team
members (employees or otherwise).

According to Covey, trust
is a function of credibility and behavior.

You build credibility by
acting with integrity, demonstrating respect for people (intent), building and
maintaining relevant and current capabilities, and getting results.

However, a personal
philosophy of integrity, good intentions, and ever increasing capabilities is
not enough. Your actions must support
your words.

“You can’t talk yourself
out of a problem you behaved yourself into.”

In the end, Covey believes
that trust is reciprocal and you must extend it to build it.

“Trust
but verify” – but trust first and foundationally.

Note: I will be posting about some of the Content
Forum sessions this week.  For detailed coverage of every session, visit John
Blossom at Content
Blogger.