We live in a time of eroding trust.

Public confidence in leaders, both political and business, as well as major institutions is hitting bottom. We no longer know who is reading our emails, monitoring our phone calls or tracking our activity online. Security breaches are becoming commonplace, putting at risk our identities, reputations, safety and financial security. At times it seems our best course of action is to follow the advice from "The X-Files" and Detective Fox Mulder: "Trust no one."

Of course, as individuals and organizations we cannot function without trust. It is the glue that holds relationships together. That's why in times like these it is crucial that you are vigilant in preserving and protecting your organization's integrity.

Google staked its reputation on its motto "Do No Harm," but the company has come to be seen as, if not fully culpable of doing harm, at least to be complicit in putting its users and customers at risk. So far Google has managed to contain the damage, but not without some loss of prestige.

In the emerging purpose-driven and collaborative economy, who you are and what you stand for is as important as what you do or the services you offer. Some years back executive coaches talked about values-driven leadership — the idea that one makes decisions and sets direction based on one's core values not on the status quo or what is most expedient.

As one consultant explains, "If a culture is about the way we do things 'around here,' then the question becomes: How do I do things in accordance with my own values, without being rigid or defending my need to be right?"

While the old ways of doing business have not gone away, in certain sectors we are seeing the formation of a values-driven economy. In their most recent trends briefing, the analysts at Global Trends point out, "People are transforming from CONsumers into PROsumers." These PROsumers "put less trust in brand messages and more trust in prices and their own personal definitions of value."

Those definitions include values like purchasing products that are good for the environment and society, owning fewer possessions, and renting, borrowing or bartering instead of purchasing.

A recent segment of "The Marketplace Morning Report" discussed FlightCar, a company that rents your car for you while you are on travel. A young woman who had rented her car a number of times commented, "The money is less important than the idea of participating in a sharing economy, and sharing my car with somebody who might need it while I'm not using it."

From a business ethics perspective, it's hard to argue with a values-driven business model. But from a profit-and-loss perspective, the question arises: Is a values-driven economy or business sustainable?

If you are interested, check out the Center for Values-Driven Leadership. They are engaged in a three-year study to explore the relationship between culture, values and business success in more than 25,000 small and mid-sized businesses. Their aim is to demonstrate a return on values (ROV), a measure of "doing well by doing good." So far, their research has shown strong correlations between value-driven practices and profitability.