(CNN) -- As the CEO of Guardian Life Insurance, Deanna Mulligan has joined a small but powerful group of female business executives on the Fortune 500 list. She talks to "Leading Women" about life at the helm of the 150-year-old insurance giant and how opportunities for female professionals are growing day by day. With women only holding 4.2% of Fortune 500 CEO positions, CNN takes a look at the pearls of wisdom shared by some of the world's leading businesswomen on getting to the top -- and staying there. Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.
This week on Leading Women, we talk to Deanna Mulligan, CEO of insurance giant Guardian Life Insurance Company of America . At the helm of a Fortune 500 company, she tells CNN about her successes . Take a look at words of wisdom from other female CEOs including Ursula Burns and Marissa Mayer .