GetBetter

GET BETTER
INSPIRE TRUST • WRITE A PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT
• INCREASE YOUR INTEGRITY • SEE POTENTIAL IN
OTHERS • TAKE TIME FOR RELATIONSHIPS • QUESTION
YOUR PARADIGMS • LISTEN WITH EMPATHY • EXTEND
TRUST • CARRY YOUR OWN WEATHER • FOCUS ON THE
IMPORTANT • MAKE HIGH-VALUE DECISIONS • BUILD
A STRONG EMOTIONAL BANK ACCOUNT • SHARPEN
THE SAW • DECLARE YOUR INTENT • IDENTIFY YOUR
ROLES • CHOOSE WILDLY IMPORTANT GOALS • THINK
ABUNDANTLY • PRACTICE HUMILITY • STAY OUT OF URGENT
MODE • STRENGTHEN YOUR CREDIBILITY • SET WILDLY
IMPORTANT GOALS FOR YOUR PERSONAL LIFE/ROLES
PRACTICES TO HELP IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL AND
PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS21
LIMITED EDITION

ABOUT FRANKLINCOVEY
Franklin Covey Co. (NYSE: FC) is a global company specializing in performance improvement. We help organizations achieve results that require a change in human
behavior. Our expertise is in seven areas: leadership, execution, productivity, trust, sales performance, customer loyalty, and education. FranklinCovey clients have
included 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government
entities and educational institutions. FranklinCovey has more than 100 offices providing professional services in over 150 countries. For more information, visit www.
franklincovey.com. Product and program catalogs can be requested by calling 1-800-331-7716 in the United States or by contacting your local representative outside
the United States.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Copyright © Franklin Covey Co. All rights reserved. FranklinCovey owns or controls all proprietary rights and copyrights to the content contained herein. No part of
this publication may be resold (in part or whole), file-shared, copied, reproduced, modified, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or made public (e.g. YouTube/
Facebook) in any form without the express written permission of FranklinCovey. FranklinCovey may pursue criminal and civil claims for any unauthorized use,
misappropriation, or the distribution of any content contained herein. This publication is provided to you for use with the licensed FranklinCovey program or for your
individual use only. You are prohibited from using this publication with other training offerings or profiting from it in any way.
Printed in the United States of America. Registered and/or pending trademarks of FranklinCovey in the United States and foreign countries are used throughout this
work. Use of the trademark symbols ® or ™ is limited to one or two prominent trademark usages for each mark.
Trademarks understood to be owned by others are used in a nontrademark manner for explanatory purposes only, or ownership by others is used herein under
license or indicated to the extent known. All persons, companies, and organizations listed in examples and case studies herein are purely fictitious for teaching
purposes, unless the example expressly states otherwise. Any resemblance to existing organizations or persons is purely coincidental.

Distilled from our many content areas, we’ve published together
for the first time 21 practices that we believe, with thoughtful and
deliberate intent, will help improve your relationships. Enjoy this
compendium of practices.
Perhaps you’ll choose to embark on a 21-day plan — focusing on one
per day — in the order we’ve written them. Or, maybe you’ll just browse
through the book and pick one that speaks to you today.
Just dive in, and remember, you’re likely succeeding at many already.
So give yourself some credit. Tackle the areas in need of some refining,
but perhaps not all at once. Maybe you’ll choose to share this book
with a friend, family member, or colleague and work together — and
hold each other accountable for progress.
Regardless of how you use it, we believe the best way to impact
another is to be a model. Enjoy the journey.
Thank you for your continued support of FranklinCovey.
© Franklin Covey Co. All rights reserved.

NO.
1
INSPIRE
TRUST
NO.
© Franklin Covey Co. and CoveyLink, LLC. All rights reserved.

YOU CAN’T TALK YOUR WAY OUT OF A
PROBLEM YOU BEHAVED YOUR WAY INTO.
PRACTICE THE 13 BEHAVIORS OF HIGH TRUST.
1 Talk Straight 8 Confront Reality
2 Demonstrate Respect 9 Clarify Expectations
3 Create Transparency 10 Practice Accountability
4 Right Wrongs 11 Listen First
5 Show Loyalty 12 Keep Commitments
6 Deliver Results 13 Extend Trust
7 Get Better
Pick a person with whom you need to increase trust.
Which behavior(s) will you use to address the situation?
Visit www.speedoftrust.com/13behaviors for expanded
descriptions of each behavior.

NO.
2
WRITE A
PERSONAL
MISSION
STATEMENT
NO.

DID YOU KNOW THAT PEOPLE WHO SPEND
TIME IDENTIFYING THEIR PURPOSE TEND TO
LEAD MORE MEANINGFUL LIVES?
An effective Personal Mission Statement:
• Clarifies what is most important to you.
• Describes your deepest values.
• Provides direction on key decisions.
• Is written down and regularly reviewed.
Visit www.franklincovey.com/msb to create a first draft of your
own mission statement.

NO.
3
INCREASE YOUR
INTEGRITY
NO.

CAN THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE
COUNT ON YOU?
Integrity, simply stated, is doing what you say you are going to do:
• Make and keep commitments to yourself first.
• Make and keep commitments to others.
• Stand for something and live by your Personal Mission
Statement.

NO.
4
SEE POTENTIAL
IN OTHERS
NO.

WHO BELIEVED IN YOU AT A CRITICAL TIME?
WHAT DIFFERENCE DID IT MAKE?
To make a lasting difference, do as Stephen R. Covey suggested:
consistently communicate to others their worth and potential
so clearly, that they come to see it in themselves.
Identify a person who needs your vote of confidence. What will
you do or say this week to demonstrate your belief in them?

NO.
5
TAKE TIME FOR
RELATIONSHIPS
NO.

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO MANAGE
A RELATIONSHIP LIKE A PROJECT?
HOW DID IT WORK OUT?
Be efficient with things, but effective with people. Remember,
“With people slow is fast, and fast is slow.”
Ask a close friend or trusted advisor what you could do to be
more effective in your relationships with others.

NO.
6
QUESTION YOUR
PARADIGMS
NO.

DO YOU SEE THE WORLD AS IT REALLY IS,
OR HAVE YOU DECIDED YOUR VIEW IS THE
“CORRECT” VIEW?
When we believe our paradigms are the correct view, we don’t see
the whole picture and forfeit the best results:
• Question all long-held assumptions.
• Be open to seeing things differently.
• Consider changing the way you see the problem, before you
try to fix it.
Seek out someone who has a differing opinion from yours. Find
one or more areas of value in their point of view.

NO.
7
LISTEN WITH
EMPATHY
NO.

DO YOU LISTEN TO RESPOND OR DO YOU
LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND? EMPATHY ISN’T
ABOUT AGREEING OR DISAGREEING, IT’S
ABOUT UNDERSTANDING ANOTHER’S
PERSPECTIVE.
You know you’re listening with empathy when you can accurately
state another’s viewpoint to his or her satisfaction before stating
your own.
Schedule time with someone in your personal or professional life
this week. Rather than talk, just listen. Notice each time you want
to reply, and instead, see if you can just listen to understand.

NO.
8
EXTEND
TRUST
NO.

IS YOUR TENDENCY TO TRUST EVERYONE
OR TRUST NO ONE AT ALL?
BLIND TRUST MAKES YOU GULLIBLE. DISTRUST
MAKES YOU SUSPICIOUS AND MISERABLE.
Extending Smart Trust is the willingness to trust combined
with careful analysis of a situation, making you capable of
wise judgments.
Identify a work situation in which you need to extend trust. Assess
your willingness to trust, and analyze the risks of extending trust
before you make any decisions.

NO.
9
CARRY YOUR
OWN WEATHER
NO.

DO YOU ALLOW A “CLOUDY DAY” TO
DETERMINE YOUR MOOD AND ACTIONS?
The next time you feel reactive, pause, take a deep breath, and
choose to respond based on what you deeply value rather than
on your mood in the moment. In other words, carry your own
weather with you.
Think of a situation in your personal or professional life where you
react negatively. Identify one thing you will do differently next
time the situation occurs.

NO.
10
FOCUS ON THE
IMPORTANT
NO.

DOES YOUR DAY RESEMBLE
A PINBALL MACHINE?
Take a proactive approach to your day.
• Spend 15–30 minutes scheduling the most important activities
that must be accomplished on your calendar.
• Spend 10 minutes reconciling and planning each day. Mark
completed tasks and reschedule remaining important activities
to another day.
Starting today, make a recurring appointment in your calendar to
plan weekly and prioritize daily.

NO.
11
MAKE
HIGH-VALUE
DECISIONS
NO.

DID YOU KNOW THAT TOO MANY OPTIONS
CAN PARALYZE YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE A
GOOD DECISION?
In the midst of unlimited choices, the best competitive advantage
is being able to discern and act on the highest-value decisions.
Keep a log of your hourly activities for one week. At the end of
the week, ask yourself, “What portion of my time did I spend on
the highest-value activities?” Then commit to double the time
you spend on those activities in the coming week.

NO.
12
BUILD A
STRONG
EMOTIONAL
BANK ACCOUNT
NO.

HAVE YOU EVER BANKRUPTED
AN IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP?
Small, consistent deposits (listening, showing kindness, respect,
keeping promises, showing loyalty, apologizing, forgiving) build
large emotional bank accounts over time.
Think of a relationship that needs repairing. Ask what would
constitute a deposit for them. Consider the deposits you could
make in that person’s emotional bank account this week.

NO.
13
SHARPEN
THE SAW
NO.

EVER BEEN TOO BUSY DRIVING TO
STOP AND GET GAS?
Sharpen the Saw by constantly renewing yourself in four areas:
1 Physical (sleep, exercise, nutrition)
2 Mental (reading, skill development)
3 Social/Emotional (relationship building)
4 Spiritual (meaning, contribution)
Pick one area that needs your attention now. Schedule one action
you will take this week to renew yourself.

NO.
14
DECLARE
YOUR
INTENT
NO.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ACCUSED OF
HAVING A HIDDEN AGENDA?
WHEN OTHERS DON’T KNOW OR ARE
UNCLEAR ABOUT YOUR INTENT, THEY
OFTEN ASSUME ULTERIOR MOTIVES.
Always share your intent when emotions are high or when the
trust level of the relationship is unknown. In other words, declare
the why behind the what.
Identify an upcoming meeting or conversation. Share your intent
before you begin.

NO.
15
IDENTIFY
YOUR
ROLES
NO.

ARE THERE TIMES WHEN YOU GO TO
SLEEP AT NIGHT WISHING YOU FELT
MORE ACCOMPLISHED?
Accomplishment in the midst of unlimited distractions comes
when your brain has a clear target of what you need to do to
accomplish each of your key roles. That boils down to identifying
the few most important roles that require making the best
decisions and focused attention today.
Identify 4–5 of your key roles at work and at home. Think about
your motivation and passion in those roles, and write a concise
statement of what your best contribution would be.
True accomplishment happens when the most important roles
in your life reflect how your time is spent.

NO.
16
CHOOSE
WILDLY
IMPORTANT
GOALS
NO.

DO YOU FIND THAT YOUR FOCUS ON YOUR
MOST IMPORTANT GOALS GETS INTERRUPTED
BY THE WHIRLWIND OF DAILY ACTIVITIES?
Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) are those things that must be
accomplished — or nothing else you achieve will really matter.
Identify one specific, achievable goal that you can accomplish
in the next year that will make a significant difference in your
personal or professional life.

NO.
17
THINK
ABUNDANTLY
NO.

DO YOU LIMIT YOURSELF AND OTHERS
WITH A SCARCITY MINDSET?
Replace the belief that “there’s never enough” with an abundant
mindset. For one week, assume there are plenty of rewards, credit,
and recognition for everyone — with more to spare.
Today, tell a peer how much you appreciate and acknowledge
their contribution. If possible, do it in a public setting.

NO.
18
PRACTICE
HUMILITY
NO.

WOULD YOU RATHER BE RIGHT,
OR ACHIEVE THE RIGHT OUTCOME?
When opinions differ, consider that your viewpoint may not be
totally accurate or complete, and check your true motives.
Think of the last disagreement you had. Looking back,
were you interested primarily in being right, or in achieving
the right outcome? Make a commitment to examine your
motives in the future.

NO.
19
STAY
OUT OF
URGENT MODE
NO.

ARE YOU OFTEN LATE FOR MEETINGS,
APPOINTMENTS, AND DEADLINES?
DO YOU PUT OTHERS IN CRISIS MODE?
To create a culture of productivity, be mindful of how you are
affecting others. Ask yourself, by being late, procrastinating,
and living in crisis mode, am I affecting others’ ability to be
productive?
This week, when you are faced with a self-imposed urgency,
change your own behavior and see how that influences the
behavior of others.

NO.
20
STRENGTHEN
YOUR
CREDIBILITY
NO.

IS YOUR LACK OF CREDIBILITY AFFECTING
YOUR RESULTS? CREDIBILITY IS A FUNCTION
OF FOUR CORES:
1 Integrity: You walk your talk.
2 Intent: You genuinely care about others, and the outcomes
you are working towards.
3 Capabilities: You have the talent, attitude, skill, and
knowledge needed for the job-to-be-done.
4 Results: You have a good track record of getting the right
things done.
Ask a trusted friend or colleague to rate you on a scale from
1–10 in each of the cores above (1 being low, 10 being high).
Based on the ratings, identify one action you will take to
strengthen your credibility.

NO.
21
SET WILDLY
IMPORTANT
GOALS FOR
YOUR
PERSONAL
LIFE/ROLES
NO.

DID YOU IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFY WILDLY
IMPORTANT GOALS (#16) FOR YOUR
PROFESSIONAL LIFE WITHOUT PAUSING
TO CONSIDER YOUR PERSONAL LIFE?
ARE YOUR PERSONAL PRIORITIES
AND GOALS OFTEN HIJACKED BY THE
PROFESSIONAL WHIRLWIND OF WORK?
What is the one thing in your personal life that needs and deserves
your attention right now and that will make all the difference?
Capture your goal and how you will measure it.
Identify the two to three behaviors that will lead to successful
achievement of your goal.
Identify how you will hold yourself accountable.

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