Female executives of large companies are still in short supply in the U.S., but they have made great strides in recent years and their number is growing. Patricia Werhane and four other leadership experts interviewed twenty-two prominent women—including executives at Kraft, Boeing, and Harley Davidson—to uncover their leadership styles, reveal their most effective practices, and find out how they broke through the glass ceiling. This celebration of stellar executives highlights their achievements, the values and visions that guide them, and the contributions they’ve made to both their companies and industries. Besides enjoying fascinating stories, readers—both men and women—will gain insights that help them manage and lead better.

Despite enormous strides in the status of women in business, female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies can be counted on two hands, and less than 15 percent of Fortune 500 board seats are held by women. These daunting statistics, however, belie another phenomenon: The iceberg of male domination in the boardroom is beginning to break up and melt. More and more women are assuming positions of real leadership. And it’s none too soon. With the increasing diversity of the workforce, businesses need the wisdom successful female executives can offer. To encourage more women to step up to the plate, this book tells many stories of perseverance and inventiveness. But it digs deeper to reveal common qualities and characteristics that reflect a style of leadership that is in stark contrast—in every major dimension, from communication styles to team building to crisis management—to the traditional, white-male model that has dominated practice, theory, and management education. While men tend to be transactional leaders, the women profiled in this book are nothing less than inspiring, transformational leaders. The result is an incisive, engaging, thought-provoking, and ultimately empowering narrative that will serve as a guide for women now entering, progressing, and leading in the workplace—as well as the men with whom they work.