Stephen M. R. Covey is a cofounder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Speed of Trust Practice. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world.
He is the New York Times and number one Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Speed of Trust, a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver. He and business partner Greg Link also coauthored Smart Trust: The Defining Skill That Transforms Managers Into Leaders, which shares enlightening principles and anecdotes of people and organizations that are achieving unprecedented success from high-trust relationships and cultures.
Stephen advocates that the ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders is the critical leadership competency of the new global economy. He passionately delivers this message and is dedicated to enabling individuals and organizations to reap the dividends of high trust throughout the world. Audiences and organizations alike resonate with his informed, practical approach to real-time issues that affect their immediate and long-term performance.
He is the former CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which, under his stewardship, became the largest leadership development company in the world. Stephen personally led the strategy that propelled his father’s book, Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, to one of the two most influential business books of the 20th Century, according to CEO Magazine. A Harvard MBA, he joined Covey Leadership Center as a Client Developer and later became National Sales Manager, and then President & CEO.
Over the years, Stephen has gained considerable respect and influence with executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies as well as with mid- and small-sized private sector and public sector organizations he’s consulted. Clients recognize his unique perspective on real-world organizational issues based on his practical experience as a former CEO.
Stephen currently serves on the board/advisory board of several entities, including the Human Performance Institute—the leader in energy management technology—where he serves as Advisory Board Chairman.