I grew up playing sports and have often looked back at those experiences to gain perspective on how a group of individuals might work together for a common goal. As I reflect on what caused certain teams to excel while others failed, I repeatedly come back to the subject of leadership. I believe the difference between an average team and an outstanding team is leadership.

To find out how obsessive I am on the subject of leadership, you only have to speak to my 12-year-old son. As my youngest, he’ll tell you that leadership is a topic that comes up often in our conversations and that it has become a running joke within the family. On the way to or from the ballpark, I’ll start to talk about what needs to happen or what needed to happen for his team to have a positive outcome. After years of these conversations, he can anticipate when I’m headed for the topic, and his usual response is, “Here comes the leadership speech.” In fact, there have been times that I’ve had him deliver it to me to make sure he’s been paying attention.

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Those who know me best would not consider me a sentimental person. In fact, my wife would probably laugh out loud if someone suggested that I was indeed sentimental. But with my oldest graduating from high school in a couple of days, it has caused me to think about what work life might be like for him four or five (hopefully four!!!!) years down the road.

It seems to me that we’ve experienced another sea change in the way business is being conducted. During my career I’ve seen the concept of life-long employment with gold watches and generous pensions at retirement come to an end. I’ve lived through the “greed is good” days of the ’90s. I’ve watched as younger employees approach work as a strict trading of talent and time for dollars. I’ve seen the impact the Internet has had on companies and the way they conduct business, and the changes are startling. Then we had the Enron, WorldComm, and Tyco debacles.

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The other day I was having a conversation with a friend and colleague — more friend than colleague. We were discussing the economy, business, and some of the challenges we’re experiencing at our company. As we wrapped up our conversation and I headed for the door, he asked me, “Are you all right?”

His question surprised me. I had to ask him what he meant by it. Of course, I’m “all right.” But he was being perceptive. The current economic environment and its impact on business is weighing on me and probably just about everyone else.

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Help me out here. Less than 48 hours ago, I wrote about the need for CEOs to earn back the trust of their employees and gave a few suggestions about how they might do that. This morning I turn on the television to find none other than Elliot Spitzer providing commentary on the current state of the economy and the regulatory changes necessary to right our financial system. Not only that, but the network he appeared on showed poll results indicating that the majority of New Yorkers would prefer to have Spitzer back in the governor’s mansion in place of his successor, Gov. David Patterson.

What’s going on here? Gov. Spitzer, who made his reputation as New York’s attorney general, strictly enforcing ethics rules and chasing corruption (whether real or perceived), was undone by his involvement with prostitutes. Just a little over a year after his resignation, he appears to be successfully returning to public life and even has the support of the majority of voters from his home state.

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Trust. Webster’s defines it as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; or one in which confidence is placed.”

Based on this definition, how many of us would say that the average employee trusts senior management? Not many. In fact, research shows that less than half of all employees trust senior management. And when asked about the CEO specifically, only 28% of employees believe that CEOs are a credible source of information.

Nearly three out of four employees think the CEO is a liar! Is ‘liar’ too strong of a word? If someone is NOT considered a credible source of information, it means people don’t believe that they’re speaking the truth. If you’re not speaking the truth, you’re lying — and, therefore, a liar.

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