Pick up any business periodical or publication and you will see a cover story about the latest business hero or heroine.   Bill Gates (Microsoft founder), Warren Buffet (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com founder) are often thought of business heros who have pioneered new markets by innovating, and growing their companies. 

But, how often do you hear about the heroines?   In fact, CNN's (2005)  top 25 most  influential leaders does not include a single woman.  We can be grateful that Fortune Magazine celebrates the 50 most powerful women each year—otherwise we would know much less about the likes of Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV,  Sallie Krawcheck, CFO of Citigroup or Indra Nooyi,  CEO of Pepsico. 

From my perspective, attribution of heroic qualities usually means rising to a top leadership role by through the entrepreneurial process—in other words, by pioneering, innovating and blazing a trail.

What does it take to become a heroine?  One conclusion from research I conducted with my partners Patti Greene, Myra Hart, Nancy Carter and Betsy Gatewood as part of the Diana Project, was that aspirations and commitment are key factors. High aspirations and high commitment are two keys to success—in other words, if you want to be CEO, you need to be prepared to make the time and personal development commitment.  If you have high aspirations and a low commitment you might be misguided in your pursuit of a leadership role.  At the same time, the pathway to the top requires attention to others often conflicting expectations, and the need to seek mentors and advisors.  We discuss this more fully in our book, Clearing the Hurdles (Prentice Hall, 2004).

Fortune will release their list of the 50 most powerful women this week—take a minute and read about these heroines—they can be your role models.