When Leaders Mattered

Remember Meredith Whitney, the respected but little-known Wall Street analyst who stated back in October 2007 that Citibank had so mismanaged its business that it could potentially go belly up? It would seem that from that day forward, a stubborn, evil genie has loomed large over all of business.

The economic hijinks that consequently became the sins of the banking sector have issued a leadership challenge to financial executives of every kind of commercial and government organization. Just how organizations responded to the crisis reveals a good deal about their financial management. Chances are that the sudden and sizable decline in business that followed was something that few CFOs had ever experienced in their careers.

It was with this in mind that we reached out to six esteemed CFOs from a variety of sectors to see if we could glean some finance and management insights from their responses to the downturn’s sudden fury. You’ll find their comments in this issue’s cover feature, titled “The Leadership Test.” I wanted to share with you our latest cover. ###

Business Finance Summer Cover