GE and P&G once again occupy the first two steps of the podium. And many others from 2010 remain highly rated: McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Accenture, Siemens, Wal-Mart, Unilever, Microsoft, PepsiCo and Southwest Airlines all feature again this year. Microsoft has climbed the list to #4, while IBM has rocketed to #3 from an honorable mention in 2010. Nestle and 3M have made similar strides while Toyota and Johnson & Johnson have jumped from outside the list to high rankings.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the financial crisis, the 2011 Best Companies for Leadership top 20 includes no financial services companies, with 2010 top 20 firms Goldman Sachs and Santander dropping out of the list.

Consumer and retail makes the strongest overall showing in the top 20 and oil & gas makes an appearance as a leadership powerhouse this year, with both Exxon Mobil and Shell joining the top 20.

To view the list and find out how the companies performed on a year-to-year basis, click here

Source: HayGroup