From the pinnacles of power by Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers
Type Size  -  +
July 10, 2008, 8:20 pm

Welcome to Postcards

Pattie posing powerfully

Greetings from the pinnacle! As I launch this blog, Postcards, I’m perched on the 15th floor of the Time & Life Building in the center of Manhattan — overlooking Rockefeller Center, to be precise. I have a sense, though, that I’m scanning the entire universe — wanting to share with you the most fascinating, most fun, and most valuable ideas about super-achievers and other powerful people.

I have lots of ideas — and scoops. Power, so to speak, has been my beat ever since I arrived at Fortune 24 years ago. I’ve written cover stories and let’s-get-personal profiles of prominent people in business and beyond — Melinda Gates most recently (the first solo profile she’s ever agreed to do). I’ve bonded with Turner Broadcasting founder (TWX) Ted Turner and his bison at his Montana ranch, hung with Martha Stewart (MSO) and her horses at her Westchester farm, delved into Oprah’s business brain, shopped Sears (SHLD) with Eddie Lampert and his mother — and come to know countless Fortune 500 CEOs. I’ll be mining these high-level sources and subjects to contribute to Postcards. Take a look at today’s guest posts — from Avon (AVP) CEO Andrea Jung, JetBlue (JBLU) founder David Neeleman, and Arianna Huffington, the bonafide blog queen.

Though I oversee Fortune’s annual Most Powerful Women list and chair the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit (the powwow for influential women of all kinds), don’t fret. Postcards is not only for women. I’ll be dishing on the big boys of business too. I’ll be pragmatic and to-the-point — as postcards tend to be. Every day, I’ll post a nugget of career advice — called Power Point. Another post, called Power Shift, will feature comments on the ups and downs of major players.

I’ll take you beyond the corner office. After all, isn’t real power “personal power”? Real power, I believe, is the power you wield no matter your position or paycheck — what you hang onto whatever happens in the job. I’ve spent much of my career exploring this concept. In that spirit, I once snorkeled with Hank Paulson in Palau, an island nation in the Pacific that renowned as a diver’s paradise. Paulson was the CEO of Goldman Sachs (GS) at the time — and an avid environmentalist. I accompanied him and his wife on a Nature Conservancy expedition. And I can safely say that I’m the only business journalist on earth who has seen the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury in pink nylon shorts.

We’ll have fun. We’ll learn together. Glad to have you along for the ride.

Regards,

Pattie

Pattie

P.S. What what you would like to see on Postcards? Please send along your ideas.

Hank Paulson, his wife Wendy and me in PalauHank Paulson the ornithophile

I would like Postcards cover aspects such as simple lifestyle.

Posted By p.selvaraj,coimbatore,india. : August 27, 2009 9:24 am

Very insightful and interesting blog, Pattie. Well done.

My-Chau

Posted By My-Chau Nguyen, Washington, DC : June 19, 2008 3:08 pm

Dear Pattie,
Extremely heartening to note the following statement in your message : “Real power, I believe, is the power you wield no matter your position or paycheck — what you hang onto whatever happens in the job”
I agree with you 100% on this and in fact I am a key proponent of this.

The bigggest benefit I derived by participating in the recently concluded Mentorship Porgram was the opportunity granted to know so many amazing women leaders. Their warmth and the sense of humility left me totally re-energized. Hats off to all of you. With Ladies like you on this planet NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE !

Cheers
anoja

Posted By Anoja Obeyesekere -Colombo, Sri Lanka : June 16, 2008 8:05 am
CNNMoney.com Comment Policy: CNNMoney.com encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNNMoney.com may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNNMoney.com the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNMoney.com Privacy Statement.
Sheryl Sandberg Sheryl Sandberg: Don't leave before you leave
COO of Facebook
Tory Burch Tory Burch: Helping women and families in the U.S.
Co-founder and creative director of Tory Burch LLC
Carol Bartz Carol Bartz: Just deal with it!
CEO of Yahoo
Xerox: A smooth CEO transitionOutgoing chief Anne Mulcahy and incoming head Ursula Burns discuss their historic CEO handoff. Watch
BartzYahoo CEO Carol Bartz tells Fortune's Andy Serwer why she took the top job at the tech company.Watch
Pattie SellersPatricia Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Can Meg Whitman Save California?", Melinda Gates ("The $100 Billion Woman"), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). And she has broken ground with insightful pieces on career management issues such as ego ("Get Over Yourself!"), and "Charisma: Do You Need It? Can You Get It?" Pattie chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. And she has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" cover package since its launch in 1998. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big consumer brand companies.
Subscribe to Postcards: RSS feed | email newsletter

Jessica ShamboraJessica Shambora started with Fortune as a reporter in June of 2008, following a stint as assistant editor at Travel+Leisure Golf. Shambora has written for Sports Illustrated, SI Latino, Women's Health, and Triathlete. She is a frequent contributor to Postcards.
Every year Fortune and the U.S. State Department sponsor the Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, which brings rising-star women from developing countries to the U.S. to work closely with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them CEOs Andrea Jung of Avon, Ann Moore of Time Inc., and Anne Mulcahy of Xerox.
* : Time reflects local markets trading time.† - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges.• Disclaimer
Powered by WordPress.com VIP.