My Journey to the Top

The reason I became a doctor was because my boyfriend, David, went to Canada to study science and then applied to medical school. I realized if he went to medical school he would have no time for me. So I asked him if he had any objections to me applying as well--we could do it together.

I had a very hard time during my first year. I didn't have a science background, and David was helping me a lot. Every night he would give me private tutoring. Of course, after a year--and a lot of hard work--it got easier, and by then I was doing better than he was in some subjects.

After we got married, we agreed that only one of us--meaning him--could have a rigorous career. David worked hard setting up his private practice, and for a while I took a stable job for the Hong Kong government, stayed at home and refused any promotion. That was an important part of my life. But the time came for my career to move.
My biggest challenges have been managing the SARS and H5N1 avian-flu crises. Those were both risk-management situations that needed a cool head.

During the 2003 SARS epidemic, I was brought to tears on more than one occasion because people were falling ill and dying. We were battling the epidemic together, and to see your colleagues, your friends, falling victim to SARS was sad. But I don't think crying is a sign of weakness. Not at all. Empathy is important. People knew that I understood, that I had a heart; I wasn't just a cold technocrat. Women shouldn't be afraid to use their emotional qualities in a public setting. They can be a strength.

Arianna Huffington
Cofounder and editor in chief, The Huffington Post

Women still have an uneasy relationship with power and the traits necessary to be a leader. There is this internalized fear that if we are really powerful, we are going to be considered ruthless or strident—those epithets that strike right at our femininity. We are still trying to overcome the fear that power and womanliness are mutually exclusive.