The Balance Sheet.

• Position: Brief Article

Team Player

Seeing Santa Claus driving a Corvette down a highway in Maui can't seem any more incongruous than watching an all-woman team of Playboy executives walk into an investor meeting. But Linda Havard, corporate executive vice president of finance and operations and CFO of Playboy Enterprises, spotted that sportscar Santa on her last vacation, in December. Playboy's upcoming IPO of its Internet business is speeding along nicely, too, thank you.

Born February 18, 1955

Married Husband, John C. Havard, is a former ARCO executive

Kids Three children: Jeffrey Kunert, 13, lives in Glencoe, III., with Havard and her husband. Megan and Drew Havard, 15 and 13, reside in Piano, Texas, with their mom.

Off hours Spending time with son, Jeff; paying bills and catching up on chores; reading, skiing, biking, learning about Chicago

Schooling BA with honors in political science, University of California at Davis. MBA in finance and accounting, Beta Gamma Sigma honor society member and Richard Miller Fellowship recipient, University of California at Los Angeles

Career history Began at Atlantic Richfield company (ARCO) as a financial analyst. Held managerial positions in business analysis for ARCO Oil and Gas Co., and in investor relations and foreign exchange in ARCO's corporate treasury department. VP of finance, planning and control, ARGO Transportation Co., 1990 to 1994. Directed worldwide strategic planning, 1994 to 1997, as ARCO's VP of corporate planning. In 1997, named SVP in the company's global energy ventures international business development division; joined Playboy later that year.

FEI Chapter chicago

Best teams she's been on "In my professional life, the management team Christie Hefner has built at Playboy is the strongest team I've ever been on. The 'membership' is diverse, dynamic, extremely intelligent, collegial, supportive -- and everyone's got a great sense of humor. However, I played softball for seven years, ending in high school, and my...