When Frances Hesselbein was CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, she believed that "only the best is good enough for those who serve girls." Her philosophy drove a turnaround of that struggling organization and led to friendships with CEOs like Alan Mulally of Ford (F) and management master Peter Drucker.
Hesselbein met Drucker at New York's University Club in 1981--an encounter that turned out to be life-changing. After leading the Scouts for 13 years, she headed Drucker's Leader to Leader Institute, wrote books to spread his word, and traveled tirelessly to strengthen social sectors around the globe.
Hesselbein sat down with me in her Manhattan office to share her best leadership tips and anecdotes from a long life well lived. (She's 96!) You can read her advice here. By the way, she's still energetically promoting ethical leadership. Hesselbein recently visited students at West Point with Mulally. "There is just one reason that we are placed on this Earth. That reason is to love and be loved -- in that order," she told the students. Says Mulally: "To be with Frances, to talk about leadership, and continuously improve our contribution and our service is just very inspiring to me."
Richard Rainwater is one of the most vital men I've ever met. Michael Eisner, the former CEO of Walt Disney (DIS), described the Texas billionaire to me this way: "Of anybody I ever met, Richard was the most charismatic, the most outgoing, most hands-on, huggy, high-fiving, jumping-up-and-down, vivacious executive."
So it is terribly ironic and terribly cruel to see Rainwater, a self-made success and one of the greatest dealmakers ever, suffering MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 7, 2011 10:31 AM ET
Photo: John Hausner
I knew Lise Buyer when she was a hotshot technology analyst at Credit Suisse (CS) in the late 1990s, during the first Internet bubble. Since quitting Wall Street in 2000 to become a venture capitalist, Buyer has been low-profile--but she's active in the world of startups. She now runs Class V Group, guiding IPO-bound companies. I asked Buyer if she'd share her advice on Postcards. Today, the MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 3, 2011 12:43 PM ET
Wendy Kopp, the founder and CEO of Teach for America, is one of the most impressive social entrepreneurs I've ever met. Anyone who writes her college thesis about recruiting America's top young people to education—and then spends the next 22 years building an organization that now hires more college seniors than most any Fortune 500 company—gets my vote.
But I'm not here to tell you about Kopp. (She's had many profiles MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 1, 2011 1:25 PM ET
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg has become the go-to adviser for aspiring young women in business. Her view, which she expressed in an on-stage interview with me at the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit: "Women don't take enough risks. Men are just 'foot on the gas pedal,'" she said, adding, "We're not going to close the achievement gap until we close the ambition gap."
Indeed, Sandberg's own career path--from the U.S. MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 28, 2011 10:04 AM ET
This morning—one day after IBM disclosed that Ginni Rometty will be its new chief--pharma company Mylan announced that Heather Bresch is its new leader.
And with that, the number of female Fortune 500 CEOs reaches a record 18. Here are the women leading America's largest corporations, with their company's rank in the Fortune 500.
11. Meg Whitman - Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)
18. Ginni Rometty - IBM (IBM)
39. Patricia A. Woertz - Archer Daniels Midland MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 26, 2011 10:52 AM ET
Photo by Asa Mathat
Ginni Rometty is the next CEO of IBM, the company announced this afternoon.
With that news comes a stunning stat: America's two largest tech companies will be headed by women.
Meg Whitman, who built eBay (EBAY), became CEO of Hewlett-Packard last month.
H-P (HPQ) is No. 11 on the Fortune 500. IBM (IBM) is No. 18.
Both women spoke at the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Rometty's main message MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 25, 2011 5:41 PM ET
What happens when influential women like Meg Whitman, Ellen Kullman - and a guy: Warren Buffett - get together? They share smart ideas and - forge unexpected new relationships.
FORTUNE -- Big topics -- the global economy, presidential politics, boardroom drama -- got plenty of airtime at Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women Summit in early October. Meg Whitman (No. 9), the new CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), outlined plans for calming the waters at MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 25, 2011 5:00 AM ET
As powerful and provocative women (Gloria Steinem, Chelsea Handler, Rosie O'Donnell...) have been swarming Warren Buffett to boost his so-called Buffett Rule--his pitch to tax the super-rich at higher rates, in line with the middle class--a lot of ordinary people wonder: How much money would this amount to, and what good might it do for America?
At the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) chief executive laid MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 20, 2011 10:11 AM ET
Chelsea Handler, Pattie Sellers, and Gloria Steinem in the Green Room at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Photo: Asa Mathat.
It's strange to fathom Chelsea Handler, Gloria Steinem, and Warren Buffett collaborating to reform America's tax code. But at the recent Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the edgy late-night talk-show host, the feminist icon, and the famed investor united around the "Buffett Rule," his proposal to lift taxes on MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 19, 2011 11:16 AM ET
For the latest on the most influential women in business, philanthropy, government, and the arts, like us on Facebook. 
Tyra Banks chats about the model/entrepreneur's time at Harvard Business School -- and staying in the dorms. Watch
Xerox CEO Ursula Burns shares how she once accepted a job with Dell but ended up staying with Xerox. Watch
Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). Since its launch in 1998, Pattie has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" cover package.
A specialist at dissecting larger-than-life personalities, she has also profiled former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack, and countless CEOs.
Pattie co-chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big brand companies.
In Pattie's blog, Postcards, she provides insight into the lives of super-achievers through commentary, career advice, and Guest Posts by CEOs and other leaders.
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Sukhinder Singh Cassidy:
Sheryl Sandberg:
Gina Bianchini
