45. Be a Quick Study

In Fortune magazine, author Patricia Sellers reported how Carly Fiorina became CEO at Hewlett-Packard Company.[10] Fiorina's candidacy faced what seemed like a major handicap. She had never worked in the computer industry. Yet she sold herself to the board by clarifying her "ability to pick up quickly the essence of what's important." Fiorina demonstrated this ability as a division president at Lucent Technologies. Fiorina proved her quick study skills at HP. She placed number one in the 1998, 1999, and 2000 Fortune 50 Most Powerful Women in American Business poll. Debby Hopkins also had to learn fast when she became a senior vice president and CFO at Boeing in 1998, before moving on to her current role as executive vice ...

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