I have been a fan of The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People for many years. So, I thought I would "Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood".

When I bought The Speed Of Trust, I thought it was written by the author of The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey. The book covers certainly share similar elements (see for yourself). Both book covers have "by Stephen R. Covey". The only difference is that the author of The Speed Of Trust is the son of Stphen R. Covey.

Now, I give Stephen R. Covey a lot of credit, but is it possible that he named his son knowing that it could be leveraged for book sales? He named him Stephen M. R. Covey. Who has 4 initials!

So, here is the question. Is this brand extension? Simply another product from the Covey brand. Or is this misrepresentation - getting me to purchase under the false pretense that it is written by an author I know, and, uh, trusted. Maybe they simply applied the lessons learned by Stephen R. Covey about the science of selling books without any thought given to how it could impact their brand.

I have read the first couple of chapters, and have found young Covey to be a decent writer. So, I don't plan on returning it - I know I will find value. My point is that the way it was done puts trust into question; it challenges authenticity.

Ahhh, the irony!