On Thursday, Fortune released its annual Business Person of the Year list. The seven female execs on the list are finding big success at their respective companies—and can certainly teach their peers a thing or two. Read their business (and life) advice below:
Celebrate teamwork
Name: Laura Alber
Title: President and CEO
Company: Williams-Sonoma (WSM)
"We like to say that 'we are all owners,'" Alber wrote in Harvard Business Review in September. "And we are. Every team member—regardless of level, function, brand, or channel—works for the good of the entire enterprise."
Accept help
Name: Mary Dillon
Title: CEO
Company: Ulta Beauty (ULTA)
Dillon attributes her career success to her husband, who quit his job as a biochemist to parent full-time. It helped provide "the flexibility on schedule and travel that has been required for my various positions," Dillon told the Wall Street Journal in 2010.
Be confident
Name: Mindy Grossman
Title: CEO
Company: HSNi (HSNI)
“Early on I was told I could do anything I wanted to do,” Mindy Grossman told CNN this year. “It wasn't an issue being a woman or not coming from a wealthy family, and that is what always inspired me.”
Create your own opportunity for change
Name: Elizabeth Holmes
Title: Founder and CEO
Company: Theranos
“At a relatively early age I began to believe that building a business was perhaps the greatest opportunity for making an impact,” Holmes told Fortune this year, “because it’s a tool for making a change in the world.”
Empower your employees
Name: Carol Meyrowitz
Title: President and CEO
Company: TJX (TJX)
"I am convinced that our focus on innovation will continue to differentiate TJX and drive our business forward," Meyrowitz told Fortune. "Teaching and training remain key priorities at TJX as our success now and in the future relies on our associates, who bring our business to life for our customers every single day."
The customer knows best
Name: Denise Ramos
Title: President and CEO
Company: ITT (ITT)
“When you honor your customers, when you care for and engage your employees,” Ramos says in this ITT video, “that will automatically translate into shareholder value.”
Be authentic
Name: Martine Rothblatt
Title: Chairman and CEO
Company: United Therapeutics (UTHR)
“Humans are free spirits,” Rothblatt told New York magazine this year, “and we’re happier when we can express whatever happenstance is in our souls.”
