Identifying Trait No. 3: BROAD-MINDED. "They are more global," says Wolf Rinke, author of Don't Oil the Squeaky Wheel ... and 19 Other Contrarian Ways to Improve Your Leadership Effectiveness. In the 19th century, a CEO hailed from Cleveland, or perhaps as far away as Glasgow. In the 20th century, the lens widened, and the CEO was not only American or British, but Japanese. Now CEOs see themselves as global citizens whose decisions reverberate from Nairobi to Natchez, Beijing to Baltimore. Even tougher: "They need to be able to build trust across those geographic boundaries," says Rinke. "They need a fully global outlook."

Identifying Trait No. 4: INTIMATE. CEOs in $10,000 suits who hang back from the masses are so retro. Today's top execs press the flesh of as many customers and employees as they can collar - and their interest has to seem heartfelt. "They need to be able to get very close to their customers and their employees," Nosal says. "You no longer can have a CEO who only operates from 30,000 feet."

Identifying Trait No. 5: VALUES-ORIENTED. "People - employees - want to work with organizations that are values-based, and they want leaders who set the example," says Dennis Haley, coauthor of The Leader's Compass. "It comes down to the CEO." What this means is, CEOs need strongly held beliefs about how good business looks and acts. Profits can no longer be put first, second, and third on a CEO's roundup of three most important to-do's.