To illustrate the power of trust in a more everyday setting, Covey shares the story of "Jim," a New York City hot‑dog and coffee vendor. Jim noticed that making change for customers created a long line and discouraged potential buyers. So he placed a basket on his stand filled with dollar bills and coins, trusting customers to make their own change. Rather than being exploited, the system worked beautifully: customers were honest, often left larger tips, moved through the line twice as fast, and kept coming back because they liked being trusted. By extending trust in this way, Jim doubled his revenues without adding any new cost.

Covey's most compelling argument is that trust has a measurable economic impact on two critical variables: and cost . When trust goes up, speed goes up, and cost goes down, creating what Covey calls a "Trust Dividend." Conversely, when trust goes down, speed decreases, and cost increases, resulting in a "Trust Tax".

What if you break trust? Covey says it is possible to restore, but not by apologizing. You must: