US management guru promotes 'trust' at IMD

American management guru Stephen MR Covey is making a rare appearance in Switzerland as the featured speaker at an English-language conference organized by the IMD business school in Lausanne.

Covey is set to deliver a three-hour workshop on “trust leadership” at the “Inspire for Excellence Symposium” scheduled for Wednesday, December 9.

The author, speaker and business executive is famous for his bestselling self-help book, The Speed of Trust, which discusses the importance of being credible in all levels of relationships in business - and in life.

“He is a big name who is not often seen in Europe,” said Jim Pulcrano, an IMD executive director who helped organized the conference in cooperation with the Swiss Marketing Club.

Covey’s visit is timely “if we look at everything we’ve gone through in the last 18 months,” Pulcrano told Swisster.

The lack of trust and “failure to take responsibility” are at the root of events marking the financial crisis and other recent business scandals, he said.

The conference has attracted top executives from across Switzerland and outside the country with more than 200 participants already registered, although the event is not targeted exclusively at a business audience, Pulcrano said.

Much of Covey’s advice could be equally applicable to family life, he said.

The CEO of Covey Link Worldwide, Covey followed in the footsteps of his father Stephen R. Covey, also a writer of self-help books aimed at the executive board room, including another bestseller, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and a series of popular sequels.

His son’s book has emerged at a time when the foundation of capitalism has been rocked by financial scandal, fraud and heaps of distrust.

According to the blurb on the cover, the Speed of Trust “reveals the 13 behaviours common to high-trust leaders throughout the world.”

It also “persuasively demonstrates actionable insights that will enable you to shift your behaviour to increase – and inspire – trust in the pivotal relationships in your work and in your life.”

Pulcrano said Covey’s appearance fits in with the direction set for IMD by its president John Wells, who upon taking the position 18 months ago emphasized “responsible leadership is one of the pillars we should be focusing on,” Pulcrano said.

In his book the author makes the point that trust is the one thing that, if removed, will destroy the most successful business, the most powerful government and the most influential leadership.

His research indicates that only 51 percent of employees have trust and confidence in senior management, and when confidence goes down a company's ability to act quickly is lost and costs rise.

Swiss Marketing, a major national business networking organization, decided to support the conference because of the importance of trust and reputation building for its members.

"Trustworthy leadership and networking have always been a key theme for us - across our 34 regional clubs in Switzerland," Uwe Taennler, president of Swiss Marketing said in a press release.

The conference workshops will be followed by a panel discussion involving the author and other business executives, including Nicholas Staheyeff, chief financial officer for eBay International, Ian Hudson, European president of DuPont and Cédric Anker, CEO of Bank Vontobel Geneva.

James Leape, director general of WWF International and Johannes Matyassy, the Swiss ambassador in charge of promoting Switzerland’s image abroad, will round out the panel to be moderated by Jonathan Elliott, a BBC news journalist.

Pulcrano said each of the panelists are involved in dealing with areas of trust, whether it is Swiss banking, which faces questions about its role in aiding tax fraud, or the Swiss government itself, which now has the diplomatic challenge of explaining the people-backed ban on minarets to the world.

Places are still available for the conference, which is scheduled to start at 2 pm. The workshop begins at 3.10 pm. with a 20-minute break.

The panel discussion is scheduled to run from 7 to 8 pm.

Tickets for the symposium cost 340 francs for Swiss Marketing Club members, IMD alumni and IMD Learning Network members.

For non-members the price is 440 francs, with a 640-franc deal that includes an annual membership in the marketing club (normally 300 francs).  The event is taking place at the IMD campus, 23 chemin de Bellrive, Lausanne.