IBM

When your mentor is half a world away

IBM's 170,000 virtual employees worldwide rarely, if ever, lay eyes on each other. Here's how they make long-distance mentoring work. By Anne Fisher

What CEOs admire: Jeffrey Immelt of GE

It takes the right blend of good ideas and good leadership to make the CEO of General Electric's own list of Most Admired Companies.

FORTUNE -- We asked three prominent business leaders -- Jeffrey Immelt, Ursula Burns, and John Donahoe -- which companies they hold in high esteem, and why. Immelt, CEO of General Electric, (No. 15 on our list of Most Admired Companies) talked with reporter Daniel Roberts and listed a veritable Who's Who of companies MORE

The unpredictable career of a high-flying exec

Val Rahmani left an executive gig at IBM to head malware-fighting startup Damballa. Such a move may seem risky, but it doesn't compare to the CEO's hobby: aerobatic flying. By Colleen Leahey,

Why you should embrace your company's heretics

Why does so much innovation happen in spite of the system, rather than because of it? A look at what it takes to embrace your organization's misfits.

While many have embraced the ethos behind Apple's celebrated "Think Different" campaign of the late 1990s, how much has actually changed at most offices? By Polly LaBarre

Sam Palmisano's legacy of leadership at IBM

The CEO steps down leaving his company in great shape.  Will that legacy last?

By Geoff Colvin, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Really good CEOs are rare partly because they use all of their brains. Most people don't. We carry around either massive left brains -- logical, analytical, not very touchy-feely -- or, more rarely in today's world, we rely on big right brains -- imaginative, feeling, intuitive, uncomfortable with algebra. Running a giant MORE

How to be a leader at IBM

Fortune sat down with Randy MacDonald, IBM's worldwide HR czar, to learn how the company trains global leaders.

Interview by Richard McGill Murphy, contributor

FORTUNE -- Q: What does it take to lead at IBM?

A: There's a maniacal focus on execution. If you say you're going to deliver, you're held accountable. Leaders also need to create an atmosphere of creativity and innovation, and I think we do that here. We find that MORE

How do great companies groom talent?

You can't build a great business without nurturing from within. Meet the firms that are doing it right.

By Richard McGill Murphy, contributor

FORTUNE -- IBM (No. 1) sends leadership SWAT teams around the world. Hindustan Unilever (No. 6) ships young executives out to live in Indian villages so that they can understand the needs of impoverished rural consumers. At farming equipment manufacturer Deere (No. 14), rising managers receive coaching from distinguished MORE

Want to change your company? Go viral.

The energy to truly change a company over the course of months or years has to come from the grassroots. How mangers can use viral marketing to support this kind of change. By Scott Heller and Colin Price

Overseas job assignments get a haircut

Say farewell to that company-paid stint in Paris. Some companies are now sending budding leaders to emerging markets to test their adaptation skills and grit. By Elizabeth G. Olson

What makes a CEO an MVP?

To make Fortune's first Executive Dream Team, a CEO needs global chops, street smarts, and more.

By Geoff Colvin, senior-editor-at-large

Here's the world Jim Skinner faced when he became McDonald's CEO seven years ago: He had just helped turn the struggling company around, but now he was boss because the two previous CEOs had died suddenly. He got profits soaring, only to encounter a historic recession in which Americans said the first MORE