Google's Marissa Mayer: How I got ahead

Marissa Mayer has been a pioneer in the unofficial "Geek is Chic" movement. Google's (GOOG) first female engineer, who is now the company's VP in charge of all things local, has appeared in Vogue, rocked the cover of Fortune's 40-Under-40 issue, and been nominated for Vanity Fair's 2011 International Best Dressed List. She is an angel investor in female-founded companies like Minted and One King's Lane. Mayer also mentors rising-star MORE

Frances Hesselbein's life in leadership

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 MORE

Who's up, down and off the Most Powerful Women list

The biggest news about the 2011 Fortune Most Powerful Women list is that we have a new No. 1: Kraft Foods (KFT) CEO Irene Rosenfeld bumped PepsiCo's (PEP) Indra Nooyi to the No. 2 spot.

But when I went on CNBC this morning to reveal the new rankings, the Squawk Box anchors seemed most interested in who fell off our top 50 Power list. First and foremost to leave the list: MORE

HP's Whitman sets the record for female Fortune 500 CEOs

With Meg Whitman nabbing the CEO job at Hewlett-Packard--and the four women at the bottom of this list (below) new to the top job this year--America now has 15 female Fortune 500 CEOs.

Not a number to be proud of, but hey, it's a record and it is progress nonetheless.

Here are the women at the helm--including the rank of their companies on the Fortune 500:

11  Meg Whitman, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ)

39 Pat Woertz, MORE

For Whitman, HP is the next best thing to running California

Meg Whitman is the new CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). Not interim chief. This is Whitman's for-real next big gig.

And it is big indeed, given that the storied Silicon Valley company has lurched from chief to chief to chief ever since the board, in 1999, eased out Lew Platt and recruited Carly Fiorina from Lucent (ALU).

Fiorina was the first No. 1 on the Fortune Most Powerful Women list, at the top MORE

Five lessons from the Bartz and Krawcheck firings

It was a double hit to Fortune's Most Powerful Women list last Tuesday when Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Carol Bartz and Bank of America's (BAC) Sallie Krawcheck got fired.

Bartz,  No. 10 in our 2010 MPW rankings, went out with a bang--as my explosive interview with her, F-bombs included, shows. Meanwhile, Krawcheck, BofA's global wealth management chief and No. 24 on our list, exited without a sound.

I know both women well, and it's worth observing that MORE

Intel's Sean Maloney: The man who couldn't speak

Sean Maloney was on his way to being the chipmaker's next CEO when a stroke crippled his body -- and took away his ability to talk. This is the story of how he returned to work (he's now head of Intel China) -- and found his voice again.

FORTUNE -- Sean Maloney grew up in gritty South East London, last in a line of six kids, and got kicked out of MORE

Carol Bartz exclusive: Yahoo "f---ed me over"

FORTUNE -- Here is what Carol Bartz thinks of the Yahoo (YHOO) board that fired her: "These people f---ed me over," she says, in her first interview since her dismissal from the CEO role late Tuesday.

Last evening, barely 24 hours after Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock called Bartz on her cell phone to tell her the news, she called from her Silicon Valley home ("There are reporters at the gate… a MORE

Getting a grip on power: 10 tips for a successful career

Ever since Fortune, in 1998, started ranking the top women in business (yes, we were first), I've been asking the stars of the Most Powerful Women list how they reached the top and how they stay there. One month away from revealing our 2011 MPW rankings, now seems a good time to share some of their best career tips. Here is my Top 10:

1. Don't plan your career. Most of MORE

Tough love: Behind Pat Summitt's leadership success

Besides her 1,071 wins, 18 Final Fours, and eight national championships--the stuff that makes Pat Summitt the winningest coach, male or female, in NCAA basketball history--there is the stuff of her leadership. Measured against anyone else in sports or anywhere, Summitt stands as one of the most formidable and focused leaders you will ever meet.

Last night, after the University of Tennessee Lady Vols coach made the stunning announcement that she MORE