Nouveau CE.

As Oscar Wilde once observed, it's only shallow people who don't judge by appearances. Before the advent of the real new millennium, we thought it a propitious time to update the content, look, and style of CE.

Part of our new conception involves delivering in-depth features on vital concerns facing CEOs. In this issue, our cover story looks at CEOs in danger--and the warning signs that portend trouble. While the mainstream press has flouted the high salaries of big earners, CEO turnover is also on the rise--suggesting that CEOs are under perennial scrutiny and the top job is riskier than ever. Equally precarious are corporate reputations. As evidenced by the recent faulty tire fiasco, a single crisis can plunge the reputations of powerhouse firms like Firestone/Bridgestone and Ford into question. This month, CE talked to Alaska Air CEO John Kelly about his struggle to restore a company image tarnished by federal probes, lawsuits, and scandal-hungry media after the crash of Flight 261.

In future issues CE will look at how some CEOs can be strategy bright, but media dumb in communicating their visions. We'll also be building upon our annual benchmark features, such as the forthcoming MVA 1000 and Route to the Top, which examines leadership paths.

The challenge of reconceptualizing CE graphically was taken on by our new art director, Andrew Ogilvie, who joined CE from Financial Executive earlier this year. Seeking to create a new design that would be seen by our readers as refreshingly different, yet comfortably familiar, Andrew strove for a clean and bolder look, introducing contemporary caricatures of our columnists, a larger and more readable typeface, and a more vibrant design.

As our more observant readers may have noticed, in recent issues we have experimented with different presentations for our monthly roundtable. Launched in 1985, this feature is a signature work that brings together a dozen or so CEOs for a discussion of challenges and concerns facing top management. From its inception, the aim has been to retain the tempo and pace of the exchange and give readers a direct sense of "listening," as it were, to the conversation over the shoulders of their colleagues. it's an oratorio on management without music. Capturing the spontaneity has been a challenge from the beginning and will doubtless remain so. We hope the new look of this monthly feature will make it more inviting for you to "participate."

As a peek at the cover images from issues over our 22 years would attest, this isn't CE's first redesign. Over the years, the magazine graduated from quarterly to bimonthly, then to 10 times per year and finally to a monthly publication, seeing a page-size trim along the way. We hope the changes are more than cosmetic in that you'll find the magazine more inviting and, dare we say it, user-friendly. Please let us know what you think And whether or not it works for you.