Home Front: The Motivational Speaker's Job Gets Heavier

The Ups and Downs of Telecommuting

Worker's Worries Put Safety Regulations to New Tests

Terrorist Threat Renews Interest in the Internet

Anthrax Scare Could Make Hospital Shares Healthy

No Dash to High-Speed Net Access After Sept. 11

Chips Are Down for Vegas Tourism

Opportunity Knocks at the Border

Retailers Find Little Trouble With Pakistani Imports

Editor's note: This is the ninth installment in TheStreet.com's Home Front series, a collection of twice-weekly features examining how American business, society and investing have changed in the post-Sept. 11 landscape.

On a sunny but chilly spring day, about 15 stockbrokers in PaineWebber's Stamford, Conn., office file into a windowless conference room, grabbing a slice of pizza and a Coke before sitting down at a long narrow table. It's April 10, 2001, and the market is 23.5% off its high a year earlier. The brokers are sullen. They look tired and battle-scarred.

In walks Kevin Elko, a sports psychologist from Pittsburgh, who's about to publish his first book, Nerves of Steel. He got the title from working for a long time for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Elko's job is to convince people -- whether they are football players or stockbrokers -- not to let external events control them, but to toughen up and stay focused on their objectives.

"Events don't cause what you feel. What you think does," Elko proclaims in his slight Southern accent.

Suddenly, the brokers put down their pizza slices and pay attention.

Elko is in his early 40s and stands about 5 feet 9 inches, but he has the presence of a taller man, made even more impressive by his fit physique and the bronze tan he acquired while recently working with the Miami Dolphins. He has dark hair and boyish good looks.

"Circumstances don't make the man, they reveal the man," he shouts. "The market's doing well, you're doing well. But when the market is bad, so you're bad. That's what you're thinking. Come on! You're better than that!"

From the looks of recognition and guilt on the brokers' faces, you can tell that Elko has hit a nerve. Confidently, he goes on: "You're looking at that CNBC screen for relief? It's not gonna happen." The market will be back, he says. "Act like you've been in the end zone before. Talk to your clients. Let them know you've been through this before." ...