January is traditionally the time to take stock of where we've been and where we're going. The month, we are told, is named after Janus, the Roman god with two faces looking in opposite directions—-one toward the past, one toward the future.

This is prime time for leaders. As Max Depree wrote in Leadership Is an Art, "The first task of a leader is to define reality." And there's no time like January to define from whence we've come and which direction we're heading.

The beginning of a new year is also the time to make resolutions. The word "resolution" also has two connotations-—one points to the past and the resolving of old problems, the other looks to the future with new resolve to improve some aspect of life.

With this in mind, I was interested in the statistics compiled by Associate Press writer John Jurgensen this past week. They certainly help define reality and where we are as people on Planet Earth in 2002.

These numbers give us a glimpse of our world. Amid these grim ...