from the EDITOR.

• Position: Brief Article

Discussions of leadership have often had military overtones, and people commonly cite top generals like Eisenhower, Patton and Washington as superior leaders. Corporations face their own set of leadership challenges, however, especially as they evolve into more "consensual," team-based organizations that are far less hierarchical.

Our cover story by writer Karen Kahler Holliday finds that top executives place a high value on leadership as a means of managing through change. In interviews with leaders in companies of various sizes, in different industries, a number of common themes emerge -- communication, trust, teamwork and empowerment.

During an interview with writer Gregory Millman, Siemens' CFO Heinz-Joachim Neuburger talks candidly about the German electronics giant's lengthy conversion to U.S. GAAP reporting conventions and the technical and political issues related to global accounting standards. Neuburger believes that even as multinational companies like his move toward unified standards, there will still be a need to observe country-specific filing requirements.

Compensation is a subject close to every executive's heart, and data we found suggests that CFOs and other top financial executives continued to do very well last year. Top CFOs, in fact, averaged a 17 percent boost in total pay, according to one study. But options programs, which accounted for much of that gain, are under a lot of scrutiny these days, and some numbers show their use declining. That threatens to slow the pay train somewhat.

A consultant I spoke with at Stern Stewart & Co. argues that compensation rewards should be segregated from the budget. That's an interesting idea, but one that flies in the face of many traditional programs where a...