The shape of things to come.

When times are good and everyone is achieving the right numbers, a CEO can relax his or her grip and decentralize decision-making to a degree. But during difficult times, it seems that decision-making gets "recentralized," or put back into the hands of the CEO.

There are lots of reasons for that. For one thing, folks lower down the ladder don't want to risk making a bad decision and having their heads handed to them. And when a company has to make an abrupt shift in strategy or focus, that can be driven only from the top.

This phenomenon is one more reason why the job of being a CEO these days is so spectacularly complex and high-risk. We hear that CEOs have to be in better touch with operations, so they get rid of chief operating officers or simply don't fill those slots. They have to be more involved in technology, so they weigh in on decisions that chief information officers once made on their own. And in the climate spawned by scandals and Sarbanes-Oxley, CEOs must have a deeper involvement in the numbers, working closely with their chief financial officers. (Some CFOs think they're in charge, but we know differently.)

Our cover package this month, CEO Agenda 2004 (page 27), is not intended to overwhelm you with more things to worry about. The goal is to provide a stimulating, informative overview of just some of the issues that the best CEOs are thinking about. The smartest leaders have to look forward and they have to demonstrate a breadth of vision, not just on a particular technology or product, but also on the whole climate in which their companies operate around the world.

We're delighted to have six top corporate leaders as contributors--Rick Wagoner, Bill George, Farooq Kathwari, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, Shelly Lazarus and Hank Greenberg. We have leavened the mix with a handful of thought leaders--Diane Swonk, Chris Zook, Clyde Prestowitz and Bill Niskanen.

I won't spoil your reading pleasure, but I will point to some common themes. After years of being on the defensive, the emphasis for CEOs next year is going to be on leadership and growth. That's not just a domestic U.S. challenge. It's global. Technological challenges, which many people think have abated, could, in fact, accelerate. A key to managing, as we go into an election year, will be to shape the climate of public opinion on such key issues as protectionism and tort reform. That will be achieved, in part, by rebuilding brands, and by assuring investors that CEOs have gotten the message on governance.

The key to leadership is not to pine for a return of the good old days, because that never happens. Instead, leaders attempt to anticipate the next cycle and position their organizations to win. We hope CEO Agenda 2004 helps you do just that.