by Breeanna Hare

To become Googles first female engineer in 1999—and， eventually， one of the most powerful women in tech—Marissa Mayer had to get comfortable with risk.

Mayers hiring as Yahoos CEO last summer， which according to Fortune made her the youngest head of a Fortune 500 company， came as a surprise， and her high-wire decisions since have spread far wider than Yahoos campus.

First， there was her brief 1）maternity leave after she gave birth to her son in September. When the Silicon Valley star first announced that she was pregnant， on the very same day Yahoo revealed she was the companys new CEO， some saw it as a progressive move and hoped Mayer would set a new standard for mothers trying to balance the competing demands of their corporate and familial roles.

What they saw instead was a businesswoman eager to get back in the office and who said that having a new baby in her life wasnt as difficult as shed been told.

But over her nearly 14-year career in the tech world， Mayer has consistently shaken up expectations. If weve learned anything about this influential computer engineer-turnedcorporate executive， its that she plays the game of business by her own rules.

1. She doesnt do 2）stereotypes

Part of the legend of Marissa Mayer is that she doesnt fit into our 3）assumptions of what it means to be a tech geek.

Much has been made of her looks， which defy popular cultures 4）assertion that the best computer scientists are “people with 5）pocket protectors and thick glasses who code all night，”Mayer told Glamour magazine jokingly in 2009.“I do code all night！ I am the stereotype， but I also break the stereotype.”

She also didnt grow up 6）immersed in technology. Born in Wausau， Wisconsin， Mayer had a childhood filled with piano lessons， ice skating and ballet， plus debate and math club in high school. She didnt even learn how to use a mouse until her freshman year at Stanford. When she happened to take a computer science class for non-majors and discovered a major called symbolic systems， she was hooked.

Soon she was climbing Googles ranks， from programmer to vice president of Local， Maps and Location Services. But the press and public focused more on her posing for Vogue and reportedly shelling out $60，000 at a charity auction for lunch with 7）Oscar de la Renta. A geek who loves fashion？ Who wouldve thought？

But as Mayer told The New York Times in 2009， “I refuse to be stereotyped. I think its very comforting for people to put me in a box. ‘Oh， shes a 8）fluffy girlie girl who likes clothes and cupcakes. Oh， but wait， she is spending her weekends doing hardware electronics. ”

2. Passion can trump gender

With two degrees from Stanford， including a masters degree in computer science， and a successful career in a male-dominated industry， Mayer is often held up as a woman to 9）emulate. During her tenure at Google， Mayers been described as being a key influencer on products such as Gmail， Google Maps and Googles minimalist search page.

As a result， Mayer is frequently asked how she made it in an environment thats seen as a boys club.

“People will say， how can we get more girls into computer science？ And I think thats a hard question， because just asking the question， I worry sometimes can handicap progress. I was really good at chemistry， biology， physics， 10）calculus in high school， and my teachers were genuinely really supportive of that and they never said anything like， ‘wow， youre really good at this， and thats unusual for a girl. They never really brought up the gender issue ...

And I think Ive just always been very gender-unaware.”

Her advice to other women seeking to follow in her footsteps is to find something that drives them and push past their 11）preconceptions about gender roles. “Im not a woman at Google， Im a geek at Google. If you can find something that youre really passionate about， whether youre a man or a woman comes a lot less into play. Passion is a 12）gender-neutralizing force.”

3. Burnout？ Shes not really buying it

Mayer has long been seen as the employee who can outwork you on your most 13）caffeinated day. But shes said that she doesnt believe in burnout in the typical sense.

“I actually have a very different philosophy about burnout. I dont think that burnout comes from not getting enough sleep or not eating enough 14）square meals. I think that burnout comes from resentment. ... It is possible to work ‘too hard， but you need to figure out what things it really is you need to stay fueled up， to stay energized， to not get resentful.”

4. She welcomes challenges

One of Mayers 15）mantras for making decisions in life is to a） work with the smartest people she can find， and b） go for a challenge that makes her feel like shes in over her head. Say， for example， taking over struggling Web giant Yahoo.

Yahoos undoubtedly hoping for a turnaround in both its finances and its products， one worth that $1.1 million bonus that Mayer was given. Optimistic observers are waiting to see Mayer apply some of the smarts and 16）aesthetic sense she showed at Google.

“If Mayer were just another savvy Silicon Valley executive whod spent most of her career at one outfit and never run a company， she might feel like a 17）quixotic choice for a big， troubled public company like Yahoo，”Time magazine wrote last July.

“But shes Marissa Mayer. She played a key role in making Google into ... Google. Shes famous for her obsessive focus on pleasing experiences， and the lengths to which shell go to measure whether somethings working for users or not.”

5. If she needs to test 41 different shades of blue， she will

Mayer said shes “a businesswoman first and foremost，” but her passion for perfection and focus on data hasnt left everyone 18）starstruck.

The Times similarly picked up on Mayers data-driven habits and perfectionism， such as when she wanted to test out 41 shades of blue for the toolbar on Google pages to see which one appealed the most to the user. Her managerial style was said to be so 19）meticulous that Wired magazine put her on its 2012 list of“brilliant” but tough tech bosses.

Only time will tell if this obsessive attention to detail pays off for Yahoo， and Mayer—or whether her companys problems are too big.

1999年，她成為谷歌首位女工程師，且最終成為科技界最有權(quán)勢(shì)的女性之一，能做到這些，瑪麗莎·梅耶爾必須對(duì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)習(xí)以為常。

據(jù)《財(cái)富》雜志所述，梅耶爾去年夏天加入雅虎擔(dān)任首席執(zhí)行官，一舉成為“財(cái)富500強(qiáng)”公司中最年輕的公司總裁。這個(gè)突如其來的消息以及她其后大膽的決策，所造成的影響力流傳范圍遠(yuǎn)比雅虎公司園區(qū)要廣得多。

首先，她在九月誕下一子后只休了一個(gè)短暫的產(chǎn)假。當(dāng)日這位硅谷明星初次宣布自己懷孕，而雅虎則在同一天透露消息稱她將成為該公司的新任首席執(zhí)行官，有人視這個(gè)事件為革命性的一步，并寄望梅耶爾成為職業(yè)女性在平衡家庭和事業(yè)發(fā)展問題上可參照的新榜樣。

大家看到的卻是另一番境況：這位事業(yè)女性渴望重回職業(yè)崗位，并表示其生活中新添了一個(gè)小寶貝并不如人們所說的那么艱辛。

在過去近14年的科技行業(yè)生涯中，梅耶爾一如既往地超乎眾望。倘若要問我們從這位富有影響力的、由計(jì)算機(jī)工程師轉(zhuǎn)變而成的企業(yè)行政高管身上學(xué)到了什么，那就是她以自己獨(dú)有的法則來參與商業(yè)游戲。

1. 她打破刻板形象

瑪麗莎·梅耶爾的傳奇色彩部分源自于——她跟大眾心目中的極客不大一樣。

她的外表形象是最為人所津津樂道的，打破了人們對(duì)頂尖電腦科學(xué)家形象的俗套臆想——“口袋襯套厚眼鏡，通宵編程不休眠”。2009年，梅耶爾曾打趣地告知《魅力》雜志：“我確實(shí)通宵編程！我特老套，但我也會(huì)打破常規(guī)?！?/p>

還有她的成長(zhǎng)并非一直就沉迷于科技之中。生于美國(guó)威斯康星州的沃索市，梅耶爾的童年排滿了鋼琴課、滑冰和芭蕾舞培訓(xùn)，而高中則參加了辯論和數(shù)學(xué)協(xié)會(huì)。在斯坦福大學(xué)上大一前，她甚至還沒學(xué)過如何使用鼠標(biāo)。一次偶然機(jī)會(huì)，她上了一堂面向非專業(yè)學(xué)生的計(jì)算機(jī)科技課，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一門叫做符號(hào)系統(tǒng)的專修課，從此她便迷上了這門課。

不久后，她就開始在谷歌公司扶搖直上，從程序設(shè)計(jì)師一直擔(dān)任到谷歌本地、地圖與定位服務(wù)的副總裁。然而媒體和公眾則把目光更多地投射到這些事情上：她登上《時(shí)尚》雜志的彩頁，另據(jù)報(bào)道稱她在一慈善拍賣會(huì)上揮灑六萬美元換取與奧斯卡·德拉倫塔共進(jìn)午餐的機(jī)會(huì)。一個(gè)熱愛時(shí)尚的極客？誰會(huì)料到？

但是正如2009年梅耶爾對(duì)《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》說的那樣：“我不愿被傳統(tǒng)框框所束縛。如果人們這樣評(píng)價(jià)我，我會(huì)欣然接受：‘哦，她是一個(gè)喜歡漂亮衣服和紙杯蛋糕的膚淺小女人。噢，不過等等，別急著下結(jié)論，原來她周末的時(shí)間卻是花在硬件電子工程那樣的工作上。”

2. 熱情勝過性別

擁有斯坦福大學(xué)包括計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)碩士在內(nèi)的雙學(xué)位，并且在男性主導(dǎo)的行業(yè)闖出一番事業(yè)，梅耶爾常常成為女性竭力效仿的對(duì)象。在谷歌任職期間，梅耶爾被視為影響谷歌產(chǎn)品的關(guān)鍵人物，這些產(chǎn)品包括谷歌郵箱、谷歌地圖和谷歌極簡(jiǎn)風(fēng)格的搜索引擎。

因此，梅耶爾經(jīng)常被問及如何在這樣一個(gè)被視為男孩專屬的領(lǐng)域中脫穎而出。

“大家會(huì)說，怎樣才能讓更多女孩加入計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)行列？我想那的確是個(gè)難題，因?yàn)閮H僅提出這個(gè)疑問，我也擔(dān)心有可能妨礙其發(fā)展。高中時(shí)，我的化學(xué)、生物、物理和微積分都學(xué)得很不錯(cuò)，我的老師們很支持，他們從不會(huì)說‘噢，你太厲害了，這對(duì)一個(gè)女孩子來說怪不尋常的。他們沒有刻意提起性別問題……

我想我也一直都察覺不到性別的差異。”

她對(duì)效仿她的女性給予的建議就是尋找能驅(qū)使自己前進(jìn)并超越性別成見的事物。“我并不是谷歌中的一位女性，我是谷歌中的一個(gè)極客。如果你能找到你所熱衷的事物，那么你是男是女這一點(diǎn)對(duì)你的影響就會(huì)少很多。熱情是中和性別的力量。”

3. 精力殆盡？她并不認(rèn)同

梅耶爾長(zhǎng)期以來都被認(rèn)為是精力過人的雇員，即使在你最熱情高漲的那天，她也能完勝你。但她不認(rèn)同對(duì)“精疲力盡”的一貫理解。

“事實(shí)上我對(duì)精疲力盡有著不一樣的哲學(xué)理解。我認(rèn)為精疲力盡并非源于睡眠不足或缺乏均衡飲食。我認(rèn)為那是源于厭惡……工作‘過于狂熱是有可能的，但是你得清楚知道你為之全情投入、打起精神、免生怠倦的事情到底是什么?！?/p>

4. 她喜歡接受挑戰(zhàn)

梅耶爾做決策的其中一道竅門是：1）與她能找到的最聰明的人共事；2）尋求一種令她感覺超出自己能力范圍的挑戰(zhàn)。比如說，接管掙扎求存的網(wǎng)絡(luò)巨擘雅虎。

無疑，雅虎正希望扭轉(zhuǎn)其財(cái)務(wù)及產(chǎn)品的現(xiàn)狀，為此梅耶爾能獲得110萬美元的獎(jiǎng)金。樂觀的評(píng)論員正期待梅耶爾拿出她在谷歌時(shí)的智慧和審美觀。

“如果梅耶爾像其他明智的硅谷高管一樣在同一機(jī)構(gòu)度過大半職業(yè)生涯，且從未經(jīng)營(yíng)過一家公司，那她可能會(huì)覺得投身到如雅虎這樣大型、復(fù)雜棘手的上市公司會(huì)是一個(gè)瘋狂的選擇，”《時(shí)代》雜志于去年七月寫道。

“但她是瑪麗莎·梅耶爾。她對(duì)于谷歌取得如今的成就起著關(guān)鍵作用。眾所周知，她癡迷于打造愉快的用戶體驗(yàn)，而且她有自己的尺度去量度產(chǎn)品是否對(duì)用戶奏效。”

5. 如果她需要測(cè)試4 1種不同的藍(lán)色，她會(huì)這么做

雖然梅耶爾說她自己“首先是一個(gè)商業(yè)女性”，但是她力求完美、專注于數(shù)據(jù)的熱情并不是人人都為之動(dòng)容。

《時(shí)代》雜志同時(shí)也有提及梅耶爾以數(shù)據(jù)為主導(dǎo)的習(xí)慣和完美主義作風(fēng)，例如：為谷歌頁面的工具欄選取顏色時(shí)，她就想測(cè)試41種不同程度的藍(lán)色以挑選出最吸引用戶的一種。據(jù)說她的管理作風(fēng)細(xì)密嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，使得《連線》雜志把她載入2012年度“卓越”但卻難以取悅的科技老板之列。

只有時(shí)間能檢驗(yàn)這種細(xì)致入微的作風(fēng)是否會(huì)對(duì)雅虎和梅耶爾有所回報(bào)——又或者是她的公司實(shí)在是積重難返。