Book Application - Trust & Inspire by Stephen M.R. Covey

In this episode of 'Paradigm Shifting Books,' hosts Stephen and Britain discuss their father Stephen M. R. Covey's book 'Trust and Inspire' and reflect on the previous episode with him. Highlights include real-world examples of trust and inspire leaders like NVIDIA's CEO Jensen Huang and Golden State Warriors' coach Steve Kerr. They also dive into practical applications of stewardship agreements and how these methods can revolutionize leadership both in corporate settings and at home.

00:00 Intro & NFL Update
05:11 Jensen Huang & Steve Kerr
12:22 Stewardship Agreements

Elements of a Stewardship Agreement: 
1 - Desired Results - What do we want to accomplish and why?
2 - Guidelines - Within what boundaries?
3 - Resources - What do we have to work with?
4 - Accountability - How will we know how we’re doing?
5 - Consequences - What are the implications if we do or don’t achieve the desired results? 

***

If you like this podcast and the books we discuss it would mean a lot if you left a positive rating and review on Apple Podcasts ;)

Follow Paradigm Shifting Books On:
YouTube
Instagram
Facebook

Transcript

Stephen: 0:00

Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Paradigm Shifting Books. Apologize for a little bit of delay between episodes, but as we kind of talked about at the beginning of the year, we were not going to have a consistent release schedule during the NFL season. We, we've realized that for Brit, Brit's, Brit's got a lot going on with. The NFL season with games, with practices, things change kind of week in and week out. And also Brit, you, you had an injury, um, as well towards the beginning of the year. So maybe, maybe update everyone on, how that went down and where you're at today.

Britain: 0:37

Yep. Well, for those listening that don't follow sports, um, or those, we, we have some listeners from out of the country too, that might not even know what American football is, but yeah, I, I caught a ball against the saints and I tried to run someone over. And I kind of forgot that I was the smallest person on the field. so I tried to run someone over and I got run over. So I've kind of learned I should probably go out of bounds more often, but broke my scapula. I'm in a couple of spots and, um, yeah, it's not an easy bone to break. All the trainers have told me, you know, in their years of doing football, they've only seen one or two of these. So it hasn't been very fun. The recovery has been annoying. Um, Getting back, you know, you guys are just listening. So you can't see, but I'm doing arm circles right now. And, uh, the, the range of motion is back and, uh, just getting the strength back before hopefully I can go out and play in a, in a little bit.

Stephen: 1:36

Awesome. Well, we wish you speedy recovery because prior to the injury, it was fun. Um, for those who follow the eagles, it was fun to see Brit get in the rotation at receiver this year. Um, so when, whenever you're, you're back healthy again, I'm excited to see what you're going to do, which would be awesome. So again, apologize for delay in, in episodes. And again, during the season, it's a little sporadic, but one thing Brit and I have talked about is we're really excited about after the season when we, when we can have a little bit more consistent schedule between us. We really want to, um, put a big focus. Into this podcast and do quite a bit more. So bear with us during the season and just know that we have a lot of good things coming up soon. So, we wanted to highlight today kind of our, our book application episode, you know, how do you apply the book we just reviewed? So obviously we just talked with our dad, Steven M. R. Covey on his book, trust and inspire a Brit. I just thought maybe a minute you and I could maybe reflect on. What that was like talking with dad and, and why we feel like the message of trust and inspire, like dad is the perfect messenger for that message.

Britain: 2:47

Yeah. Well, I mean, first of all, I think we were always taught that you, you kind of teach what you are. Right. Our grandpa used to say that you teach what you are. And I think that, uh, you know, our father is a really good example of this concept of trust and inspire because that's how, who he is, that's who he's been his whole life, or at least tried to be. And that's why it's so authentic coming from him. And, uh, we've seen it in action throughout our whole lives. And, and the other thing that. You know, I hope people realize as listening to the episode and you really get the, the vision of it when you read the book is that trust and inspire sounds like a soft skill, you know, on the exterior, just on the surface. But as you read it, you realize, you know, how tactical it is and how. Accountable and accountability, you know, plays a, plays a role in all of this and, and how it's not just a soft skill to trust people, you know, and you're some soft leader, um, it's quite the opposite in fact, and, uh, anyways, I think that that's something that is kind of a paradigm shift in and of itself.

Stephen: 3:52

Absolutely. And. Again, talking, you know, obviously we've talked to our dad quite a bit and it's, it's fascinating to hear as he travels the world, as he works with governments, as he worked with the biggest, most successful companies in the world, this message of trust and inspire and being a trust and inspire leader is resonating more than anything else that he's seen or talked about. He's getting, you know, tooting our dad's horn. He's getting standing ovations. Anytime he talks about this topic, he was just at the, the world economic forum talking in front of the top CEOs of literally the world. And just was, um, hounded by people after just saying that this, this message of trust and inspire is so needed today. This is what's going to separate the best companies from others. And then again, doesn't apply just to companies, obviously it applies to families. organizations, sports teams, like whatever it is. So what, what an honor, uh, to be able to talk with dad about that. And I speak for Brit when I say this, that we're so grateful for our dad, his example as a dad and just the amazing thought leadership he's produced. So what we like to do. With this episode is share, like, let's share an outside practical example of someone who has been a trust and inspire leader. So I've got an example. Brit has one. My example is from NVIDIA CEO. Now, if anyone follows companies or stocks, NVIDIA is. Come as a company has basically taken storm in the last five years, mainly because of artificial intelligence. They, they basically are supplying all of the, the, the chips and GPUs, CPUs that are necessary for AI compute to happen. And so they've, they've, they've. Kind of hit like perfect time, perfect timing for AI, obviously. And their, their stock price has been on just this incredible tear. Who knows what the future of that will be ultimately, but there's no questioning that it's an incredible company. And the CEO, um, his name is Jensen. I would term as a trust and inspire leader. And I saw an interview where he was, uh, the interview asked him this question. He said. You once told me that you didn't like firing people and very seldom did it. Can you elaborate on that? And this is how Jensen responded. He said, I'd rather improve you than give up on you. I don't like giving up on people because I think they could improve. And it's tongue in cheek, but people know that I'd rather torture them into greatness than give up on them because I believe in you. And I think coaches that really believe in their team. into greatness. And oftentimes they're so close to, to break through that greatness barrier. So don't give up. And then the last thing he said was, can you imagine if you just gave up on someone right before they got it, meaning greatness. And I love that quote. And I've, I've watched a few other interviews and read some articles from him. And just his whole perspective around leadership, I believe embodies a lot of what a trust and inspire leader is. He's, he's not a soft leader. He demands greatness. The results of his company speak for themselves and he at self admits as well. I saw another interview with him where he said, the interview asked, you know, people describe you as very demanding, a perfectionist, and that sometimes you're hard to work with. And he just straight up says, yes, that's, that's all accurate. Like I, I basically demand greatness out of my people because I believe and see it in them. And I'm just trying to get that out of them. And when you look at statistics too, as far as there's a lot of, uh, Statistics out there where they like rate CEOs and their effectiveness and approval rating. He has the highest approval rating of any CEO, at least in one study that I saw published, it was like a 96 percent approval rating with within his company. So clearly he's doing something right. I just thought it was a, you know, if you want to. Go and look at interviews of him. I think he's, he's a good example of a trust and inspire leader. Um, that's just kind of relevant and people see. So that was kind of my outside example that I've, I've, uh, come across. So, so Brit, let me ask you, uh, who was yours?

Britain: 8:23

Well, first of all, I love that story. I love that concept of, I would rather torture you into, into greatness because I believe in you. I think that's really cool. Um, my example that I picked was Steve Kerr coach, the head coach, the golden state warriors. Um, for those that, that don't know much about Steve Curry, he, he took on the head coaching job of the warriors of a young team who clearly had talent, uh, but they were a little bit. You know, chaotic, erratic, whatever you want to say. They, they, uh, they had a lot of talent and had some big personalities and he took on the team and, you know, obviously the first thing that he did was he molded to the new style of the NBA, which is three point shooting. And he was really one of the first ones to really just kind of. the game. Obviously he had two of the best shooters of all time on his team, but he, he really, um, molded to the new style. But what it's really impressive and why I consider him a trust and inspire leader is, uh, he's got one of the most difficult personalities probably in the entire league. And, and he said, you know, he says that himself. So hopefully Draymond won't listen to this podcast and get mad at me, but Draymond green, uh, clearly has some big emotions and, and, uh, He leads the league in technical fouls by far, uh, compared to any other player, uh, for the past 10 years. Plays with a lot of emotion and, and sometimes gets out of hand. Uh, he's talked many times about how Steve Kerr handles him in the right way. Um, he's trusted Draymond with things that most coaches probably wouldn't because of how emotional he can be on the court. Um, he's taught him how to channel those emotions, but he lets Draymond be Draymond, I think was the exact quote. And, uh, whereas a lot of coaches would be a lot more, um, rigid with him, he extends trust to Draymond. And the vast majority of times. That trust has paid off. I mean, they've won four championships. Uh, and Obviously there've been a few incidents where it's gone too far, but Draymond talks about how he can go out there and let loose and be himself without the fear of retribution or getting benched. And so I just think that's a really cool example. Um, and it leads me back to this concept. Whenever I've gone and heard dad talk when he does the Q and a session is when it's the most amazing. And there's always the same question asked every time is, what do I have these employees that I really just don't. No, if I should extend this trust and dad responds a lot of times with people always consider the effects and the consequences of trusting too much, but very rarely. Think about the consequences of trusting too little, and those can be just as detrimental. So you have to think about both, but naturally in our mind, we don't think about the effects of trusting too little. So I think that's a good example.

Stephen: 11:24

I had is that is a really good example and also highlights to that, a trust and inspire leader. not someone that lacks accountability with their people, right? That that trust and inspire is not a soft. If, if you're thinking someone who's a trust and inspire leader is just someone that, Oh, I trust you. And then that's kind of it. That's not trust and inspire because someone who's trust and inspire also has that accountability element to it, but not in a way that's. demeaning, not in a way that's, um, forcing people to do things. And that's kind of the, you know, kind of wrapping that into what's our, what's our kind of final, like, what's a personal example of how to be a trust and inspire person or leader. Um, I think Brit and I kind of, both of us agree on this one, and this is kind of the one we wanted to share. And we talked about it in the previous episode. So you can listen to our dad expand on this probably a lot better than we are. But. The idea around a stewardship agreement, and I personally believe that this concept of a stewardship agreement, if this was applied across, let's just take companies, for example, if this, if every new manager or every new leader, anyone who had stewardship or responsibility over a team could go through like a half day training training, On building a stewardship agreement with the people that they manage or work, work with, this would fundamentally change like corporate America overnight because so many, and I think anyone who's, who's worked in corporate before. Can relate to this where most managers, they don't know how to hold people accountable in a good way. They don't know how to manage and lead. And if you just set the expectation up front with this stewardship agreement, it'll change everything. Brit, why don't, why don't you break down

Britain: 13:21

Yeah.

Stephen: 13:22

What the elements are of, of a stewardship agreement is.

Britain: 13:25

Yeah. So, so the five elements, uh, starts off with desired results and, and kind of. Clarifying the desired results. Guidelines is number two. And the resources available is number three. So those three fit into a clarify expectations kind of area. So desired results, guidelines, and resources. And then four is kind of the post, you know, is accountability and consequences. And so all of this is declared upfront in, in a stewardship agreement, the desired results, the guidelines, and the resources available, as well as how you will be held accountable and the consequences for it. So when you declare all of this upfront, there's just this mutual understanding between both parties and a mutual agreement, and there's no surprises if something is. Not done, uh, what the consequences will be, how they'll be held accountable. And, uh, you know, dad used to use this in parenting all the time we, we talked on it, like, like Steven said, go back and listen to, uh, to the first episode, I mean, this was totally my curfew agreement. It was a little more informal than, you know, sit down and do this, but totally my curfew agreement with the, the guidelines and the resources and. This is what, you know, what the desired results are, and you'll be held accountable for this and there'll be consequences, but it totally gave me more freedom and I understood exactly. And I knew if I missed curfew, exactly what the consequence would be. And anyways, it was great,

Stephen: 14:55

this doesn't just apply to a corporate setting. I, I, I just emphasize that because I've just seen so many examples of people having a hard time holding people accountable, but if you just set up the expectation and everything upfront, it just makes it so much easier. You, you, you start out, you begin with the end in mind essentially and say, Hey, here's. Here's how we operate. Here's the resources you have. Here's how we're going to practice accountability. And same thing, Dad, for me growing up, outside of a corporate setting, this applies to obviously anything else, but as like a parent, uh, Dad did the same thing with me around when I got my license, driving. Um, if anyone wants to, uh, read about how I broke, Stewardship agreement. You can, you can read his first book, The Speed of Trust, where, uh, you know, let's just say I got a really bad speeding ticket and, um, but, but it was what was interesting about that and reflecting again. I was 16 years old as they did set kind of this stewardship agreement. It wasn't like a total formal sit down like this. Like, I don't, I don't recollect that. But the elements of the stewardship agreement were in place so that when I got the speeding ticket and my parents took my license away from me, that that's what we set up front. So was I mad? Yes, but that was part of the accountability that we had built. We had built in and Hey, to my credit, I haven't gotten speeding tickets sent. So I learned, I learned the lesson. And, and my dad also says that that's when he talks about his first book, the speed of trust, like that's usually like the highlight when he shares that story with people, cause everyone can kind of relate to, having a teenager or being a teenager and, and kind of going through that phase. But anyways, that's, that's again, personal application for this. Check out stewardship agreement. Think about where you can apply it in your life, at work, with family, whatever the case may be. Um, it'll change kind of the nature of your relationship with, with people you have stewardship over. So, well, that's, that's pretty much it for this episode. Um, We look forward to, we're going to be coming back with our, our next book preview episode here, just in a couple of days, we're going to have, we know we we've been a minute since we've had some episodes, but we're going to release quite a few here in the next little bit. So we're excited to talk with you then and stay, stay subscribed and we'll see you then.

Britain: 17:24

Yep. Thanks guys.