50 Most Powerful Women 2008

Women make 83% of all purchasing decisions…. yet they refuse to awaken to the fact that they are mightily powerful. I have started http://www.thenewtnwoman.com (The New Tennessee Woman) to help separate out Tennessee’s fiesty entrepreneurs from those that drearily follow familiar corporate ruts….and get familiar, uncomfortably corporate results. Isn’t it time women created the businesses they want to work for? How weary I am of passive women who wait for someone else to create their destiny. Snap out of it!!!

This is ridiculous! How about Condaleeza Rice? More powerful than any of these money hungry baffoons!

Powerful people (men or women) make their own success. Gender does not matter; self-confidence and perseverance are what makes a successful person. In any job that pays more than $50K, everything is negotiable. People create their own “glass ceilings”, not gender.

Words can not adequately express how discussed I feel seeing all these woman and men make millions all the while people are losing there homes, can’t find jobs and are living in poverty. It says a lot about the lack of values we have in this country. No one man or woman is worth millions in annual salaries. Think if their income was at a more reasonable, realistic level how many people would be helped and how it could help our economy. I dare congress to do something about this putting a stop to these million dollar salary and golden parachutes. It’s discussing.

As a professional woman in her early 30’s, I find it exciting to see what these women have accomplished.
Of course, one cannot help but notice the enormous disparity between the top 25 men and the top 25 women in terms of compensation. Wow.
I realize that some the disparity may come from the difference in the size of company that some of the women are running versus some of the men. But, that certainly does not account for the lion’s share of the difference.
Still, as I consider the current sentiment against bilking shareholders and possibly even taxpayers if your company is “too big to fail”, I suppose women come out looking less greedy. So, maybe this will be a good time for the advancement of women into even more positions of power across the American economy. Boards looking for a better bargain for their money may well look to a woman!
I hope so!

Oprah Winfrey is probably the biggest disappointment. She has become so engulfed by her own fame and fabulousness that she has lost all credability. I can not bear to watch her show any more because it is embarrassing to witness the ignorant way she acts.
She actually believes all the hype about herself. Shame on you Oprah. Remember, when you become famous, a truly honorable person doesn’t believe their own hype.

My experience shows that men are still longing to work with other men – especially in the Project Management field in which I work and within the IT Industry.
We recently had contracts cancelled in the company I worked with and the man in the group got some “advance” notice so he was able to take action 2 weeks earlier, then he moved to a new contract fairly quick when we both come from similar backgrounds, company histories and job titles.
I believe it is easier to face hiring a man because employers don’t have to worry as much about interviewing all the candidates and trying to find out do they take sick days, are their kid going to complicate us at the office, is she too pretty or flirty. I’m sorry but I still think men get caught up in looking at the women they are working with and gossiping about them so it’s a work distraction. On our behalf we are compassionate, strong and we usually negotiate with a win/win attitude and can be manipulated by our need to overachieve in order to fit in or be good enough. We are all growing up together in business and as men and women we will eventually change the face of business to be the best qualified and “oh, their a woman, that’s different”.
I believe we are overcoming our past “mad men” emotional reactions to life and love; and the negative impressions we have brought into our professional world.
Thanks to these great women the gender has excelled in some great companies – however if this was a group of powerful men I think the forum chairs, background graphics and general polish of the interviews would have been top notch. Men demand far more polish and stately to honor their stature in business. Just a though.

I know women are more well rounded to face the changes and emotions of the business world and I’m thankful for all of these brave souls and the men who have given us a chance to prove our worth in the business world. Sincere thanks to both sides of this gender issue.

Are women paid fairly? Are they rewarded at work equally?

Do you think women have made impressive gains in corporate America, or do they have a long way to go?

What do you think of Fortune’s list this year?