Stock Soars: 2009 was Great for Female CEOs' Companies

"This may go down as the best year yet for female CEOs of large companies, but those corporate chiefs want to make it clear their success has nothing to do with chromosomes. 'Good leadership is about the person and has little to do with gender,' says Carol Meyrowitz, 55, CEO of retailer TJX Cos. (TJX), a stock that soared 79% in 2009. 'Good leadership and good performance (are) not about any one thing, but a host of factors and circumstances.'"

Best and Worst CEO Buzz of 2009

"Fortune commissioned a statistical analysis of blogosphere chatter to discover which chiefs of Fortune 500 companies garnered the most buzz this year, good and bad."

Oral Roberts Remembered as Charismatic Leader

"For decades, Oral Roberts deftly used television to become one of the nation's most recognized and influential preachers. On Monday, that same medium was used to broadcast the memorial service for the godfather of TV evangelism to tens of millions of homes across the world."

10 Things Not to Say When Firing an Employee

"Here are 10 things you should never say when terminating an employee."

Seven Personality Traits of Effective Leaders

"I've found that some of the most effective leaders share common traits. That is not to suggest that they are personality clones. They do, however, have some things in common."

The Post-Imperial Presidency

"This is an interesting article on how Obama is leading in the area of foreign policy."

Why Introverts Can Make The Best Leaders

"It has been reported that a full 40% of executives describe themselves as introverts, including. . .Bill Gates, the über-investors Warren Buffett and Charles Schwab, Avon's chief executive, Andrea Jung, and the late publishing giant Katharine Graham."

When the CEO Job Is Split in Two

"Dividing the post often leads to grief. But Aéropostale's new bosses know how to work together."

Discover Your Leadership Blind Spots

"Too often, leaders demonstrate behavior that sabotages their success and undermines both their team and their organization. To succeed as a manager, you need to learn how to recognize your blind spots and overcome them."

19 Often Overlooked Questions to Propel Employee Conversations

"Smart leaders ask interesting questions. Questions often ignored by many; asked by a few. Here are a handful of questions to help you bridge the gap from cubicle to community."

Bill Hybels - "Five Things Leaders Do"

"Test your leadership against Bill Hybel's checklist."

Time's Person of the Year 2009: Ben Bernanke

"The story of the year was a weak economy that could have been much, much weaker. How the mild-mannered man who runs the Federal Reserve prevented an economic catastrophe."

TIME's Person of the Year 1927 - 2009

"TIME's Person of the Year is bestowed by the editors on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year. See who made the grade over TIME's first eight decades."

Time's 25 Most Significant People of 2009

Time's 25 Most Significant People of 2009

Americans' View of Clergy's Ethics Hit 3-Decade Low

"Americans' views of the 'honesty and ethics' of clergy have hit a 32-year low, with just half rating their moral caliber as high or very high, according to Gallup's annual Honesty and Ethics Ratings of Professions survey."

Gallup Poll: Congress Members Lower than Car Salesmen

"Being a member of Congress rates as the least ethical and honest professions – faring worse than car salesmen by 4 percent – according to a new Gallup poll out Wednesday."

Why Introverts Can Make The Best Leaders

"It has been reported that a full 40% of executives describe themselves as introverts, including. . .Bill Gates, the über-investors Warren Buffett and Charles Schwab, Avon's chief executive, Andrea Jung, and the late publishing giant Katharine Graham."

Survey: U.S. CEOs' Economic View Brightens

"U.S. chief executives' outlook on the economy improved in the fourth quarter, although most still are not ready to step up hiring or increase capital spending, according to a Business Roundtable survey released on Tuesday."

Quarter of Workforce Could Become Temps as Contract Work Grows

"An encouraging jobs report Friday underscored the growing prominence of temporary workers who some experts predict could constitute up to a quarter of the workforce in a few years."

Leadership Humor

A young executive was leaving the office late one evening when he found the CEO standing in front of a shredder with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Listen," said the CEO, "this is a very sensitive and important document here, and my secretary has gone for the night. Can you make this thing work?"

"Certainly," said the young executive.

He turned the machine on, inserted the paper, and pressed the start button.

"Excellent, excellent!" said the CEO as his paper disappeared inside the machine. "I just need one copy."

The Business of Higher Education

"The Business of Higher Education (Praeger), a new three-part collection of essays edited by John C. Knapp and David J. Siegel, presents a wide range of perspectives on the complex impact of business models on higher education. The authors -- respectively, the Mann Family Professor of Ethics and Leadership at Samford University, and an associate professor of educational leadership at East Carolina University -- are neither pro- nor anti-business; they describe themselves, instead, as 'ambivalent, conflicted, and (perhaps more positively) open to the merits of strong arguments.' Those they (and readers) get, from such shrinking violets as E. Gordon Gee, Marc Bousquet and Cary Nelson. The authors answered some questions about their series via e-mail."