When you challenge other people's ideas of who or how you should be, they may try to diminish and disgrace you. It can happen in small ways in hidden places, or in big ways on a world stage. You can spend a lifetime resenting the tests, angry about the slights and the injustices. Or, you can rise above it.

Although the decision to spin off the company's technical equipment division predated her arrival one of her first major responsibilities as chief executive was overseeing the separation of the unit into the standalone Agilent Technologies. Senate candidacy

On November 4 2009 Fiorina formally announced her candidacy in the 2010 Senate election in a bid to unseat incumbent Barbara Boxer. She became the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company.

In 2005 Fiorina was forced to resign as chief executive officer and chairman of HP following "differences [with the board of directors] about how to execute HP's strategy. Fiorina was considered one of the most powerful women in business during her tenure at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard. Under her leadership in 2002 the company completed a contentious merger with rival computer company Compaq.