Postcards

Media-retail star's advice: Go beyond the obvious

Mindy Grossman was a rising-star retail executive, heading Ralph Lauren's (RL) Polo Jeans business and Nike's (NKE) global apparel, before she switched to TV and transformed HSN. By adding celebrity spark and digital dazzle to the once-dreary home-shopping channel, Grossman built a high-growth media-retail hybrid and multiplied HSN's stock price 10-fold from the dark days of 2008. For her unlikely success, she was honored this week at the Matrix Awards MORE

How to make an old career new again

NBC Universal's Bonnie Hammer has been doing what she does—building cable TV networks—for 26 years, which is long enough to know that at a point, the slog of a career can ease and work can turn energizing again. Hammer, who built SyFy and USA Network and recently moved up to chairman of NBCU's (CMCSA) entire cable entertainment group, talked about this notion of belated reward on Monday, when she accepted a 2013 MORE

Yahoo CEO Mayer on "the elephant in the room"

Here's the image that Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer put up on the screen yesterday when she talked publicly for the first time about the HR policy that brought her worldwide controversy.

"I need to talk about the elephant in the room," Mayer said at the Great Place to Work conference in Los Angeles. In case you don't get her joke, the "WFH" on the pachyderm's back is the CEO's code MORE

Why we must keep running

Jessica Shambora was a reporter at Fortune from 2008 until 2011 -- my great protegé and now a lifelong friend. Jess is now a marketing communications manager at Facebook (FB), but she's still a journalist to me. So when she texted me last night to tell me that she had finished the Boston Marathon and was shaken but okay, I asked her if she would share her take on the MORE

A Grammy-nominated executive strikes again

Chandrika Tandon, financial advisor (and sister of Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi), talks about her new album -- and work-life balance.chandrika

How Gen-Y women can close the pay gap

Guest Post by Amanda Pouchot, co-founder, The Levo League

A friend recently told me about a male colleague; he joined her company one month after she arrived. "He's asking for a $10,000 dollar raise tomorrow at our performance review," she griped. "I can't believe he's doing that. I just can't imagine asking for a raise after only being here for seven months."

Today is Equal Pay Day, which marks how far into MORE

How Sheryl Sandberg leans in to win hot hires

Sheryl Sandberg clearly knows how to lean in and position herself as one of the world's Most Powerful Women and a No. 1 best-selling author to boot. The Facebook (FB) COO also happens to be a pro at leaning on people to work for her.

Consider the experience of Carolyn Everson, a Sandberg protege whose official role at Facebook is VP of global marketing solutions--she is Facebook's powerful face to major MORE

Best advice from a Facebook star

When Carolyn Everson, Facebook's (FB) VP of global marketing solutions, confronted a management void in Europe, she opted to fix the problem herself. She moved her family--husband Doug and twin daughters--from New Jersey to London.

Now Everson is on the ground for six months, fortifying the European business, visiting international advertisers, and helping in the hunt for a new leader for the region. Last evening, during a quick trip home (she's MORE

Career advice from Sheryl Sandberg and Amex CEO Chenault

Here's a workplace dilemma: How does a male boss mentor a woman in a world where 64% of men are afraid to be in a room alone with a female employee?

Ken Chenault has no fear. "You've got to develop relationships. You can't do things just in a formal context," says the American Express (AXP) CEO, who promotes informal mentoring at his company.

Here's Chenault and Facebook (FB) COO Sheryl Sandberg talking with me MORE

Podcast: Sheryl Sandberg on men and Lean In

Want to hear my interview with Sheryl Sandberg about what men can learn from Lean In...and how the Facebook (FB) COO applies her book's message to her own family? Click here.