Influential Women

I just saw a  fascinating  list at Forbes of  who they consider to be the 100 most powerful women in the world. I am a big fan of lists and Forbes regularly has some of the best in a number of areas.There was a lot  of   interesting information on the list; from who was included, where some familiar names were ranked and the diversity of occupations and countries( 31 different ones) that appeared.

Sad to say, I was unfamiliar with a number of the names so I won’t be able to speak to  a number of those that ranked very high. Number one was Chancelor Angela  Merkel of Germany, just one of  a surprising number- to me- that were heads of state. There were 10 that were either Chancellor, Prime Minister or President.

I obviously cannot speak to whether or not individuals should or should not have made the list. Some were easy choices that even I could have made, many were not. What observations I have would fall  into the are of opinion. So, if you like my opinions, great, if not, great. Very few are etched in stone.

The only member of the top 10 that I recognized was Ms Merkel who headed the list for the 4th year in  a  row.  There were 2 members, Michele Obama and Melinda Gates, whom I found interesting. It seems, seems now, that their influence is more of a  derived one, considering  who their spouses are, than the remainder of the list. Oprah Winfrey was not as highly ranked as I would have thought but was one of the few involved in media.

Three U S  Cabinet members appeared, Sebelius, Napolitano and Clinton along with Speaker Pelosi. Good choices, I thought. Both female Supreme Court justices appeared. I thought Justice Sotomayor’ s  appearance  might be  a bit premature though. Two IT companies, sort of, Yahoo with  Carol  Bartz and Oracle with Safra Catz , were represented.

One thing appeared more interesting than it probably should be . It seemed that  the financial services industry was the business type seen most often. Having said that, I was surprised that Sunoco’s  CEO  was Lynn Eisenhans  who made the list at #10.

The list makes for a very good read and one can  learn  quite  a bit, as I did, about the variety of leadership positions held by women. It is a list that undoubtedly will grow.