David and Tom Gardner recently interviewed eBay CEO Meg Whitman on The Motley Fool Radio Show on NPR. This is the fifth of five parts.

TMF: Well, we spent a lot of time talking about eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY), as we expected to. But, Meg, let's talk briefly about other companies that you admire. Could you name three other companies or CEOs whom you specifically admire?

Whitman: Probably first and foremost would be A.G. Lafley at Procter & Gamble(NYSE: PG). I sit on the P&G board and have been so enormously impressed with what he has done with that company in the last three years. Just the increase in revenue growth, increase in profitability, he has restored pride at P&G. I just think what he has done there is spectacular. So I have a lot of respect for A.G.

I have a lot of respect for Bill Ford at Ford(NYSE: F). He came in at a very tough situation with his name on the door in a strategically challenged situation and it would appear he is making excellent progress in terms of turning that company around, getting it back focused on its sort of core roots and moving that along very, very nicely.

TMF: You know, Meg, before the interview Dave was telling me he thought you might mention him.

Dave: Oh yeah, yeah right. (Laughter)

Whitman: And I think Tom and David Gardner from The Motley Fool.

TMF: Thank you so much. I lost a lot of sleep about this last night. You mentioned two great and great big companies there, Meg. How about a small-cap company? You are out there in San Jose, Calif. Are there any small-cap companies that impressed you?

Whitman: You know, one of the companies that is private and has a lot of traction, although it is tiny, is a little company called Friendster, which is basically sort of an online dating service, only you get to know people through a friend of a friend. It is catching on like wildfire, particularly between the 20- to 30-somethings.  So that might be one to watch. There are actually a lot of 20- to 30-somethings who are employed at eBay who use Friendster. So that is kind of a fun one and it has a lot of growth aspects of it just like eBay did in its early days.

TMF: Meg, in your role as CEO, does the fact that you are a woman have any effect on your job or on the way people treat you?

Whitman: I think about that a lot. I don't know. (Laughs.) Because I don't know what it would be like if I was a guy. I think probably not at this stage. I have been in business now for 25 years. I have been the CEO of eBay for five and a half years. I think people must just pretty much treat me as Meg who runs eBay. So I don't think so. I think it is pretty much gender-neutral at this point.

TMF: What is one piece of advice that you would give someone who aspires to be the next Meg Whitman?

Whitman: Two things: Find something that you are really passionate about. Find work that you love because I think if you really are enthusiastic about what you do, you will do a better job. Then second of all, put your head down and deliver the results. No matter what you are asked to do in the early stages of your career, put your head down and deliver the results and become known for delivering on your commitments.

TMF: OK. Let's close with our game "Buy, Sell, or Hold." We have played it before. We will be throwing out things happening in our society around us today. I ask you, Meg, if these things were stock, would you be buying, selling, or holding and a sentence or two about why. Are you ready?

Whitman: Yes.

TMF: OK, great. Let's start off with buy, sell, or hold the likelihood that the U.S. government in the next five years will impose taxes on Internet transactions. If that were a stock, buy, sell, or hold?

Whitman: Well, do you want to get into a little bit more there because I can do "buy, sell, or hold." I would say hold. It is a complicated issue, of course. Basically, our sellers who sell within California are required actually to collect sales tax. It is when they sell to an individual in another state, just like the catalog companies, distance sales have never been taxed. So, it is not really about the Internet per se; it is that distance sales.

Then, is the federal government actually going to require little businesses to collect sales taxes from well over 300 jurisdictions? I think in the end this will. There was a Supreme Court decision in 1991 called the Quill Decision that basically ruled that Internet distance sales, or the distance sales taxes, were not going to be collected. So the reason I say hold is I think it is much more complicated than the media has sort of told the story to date.

TMF: Buy, sell, or hold using restricted stock rather than stock options to compensate employees?

Whitman: Buy.

TMF: Why?

Whitman: I think as the current environment continues to evolve, companies will move to a mix of stock options and restricted stock or restricted stock only. Not every company, maybe not the fastest-growth companies, but I think you will see restricted stock as an increasing percentage of employee compensation.

TMF: One of our producers is getting married in the fall, so buy, sell, or hold buying a wedding dress on eBay?

Whitman: Buy. Great selection. Terrific value. One of our fastest-growing categories.

TMF: We know these do exist because, well, we have now read about them. Buy, sell, or hold Meg Whitman trading cards?

Whitman: (Laughs.) Hold until the next eBay Live and then you will get to buy again. (Laughter.)

TMF: Meg Whitman is the CEO of eBay. She joined us from eBay corporate headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Meg, thanks for joining us on The Motley Fool Radio Show.

Whitman: Thank you. Nice to talk to you guys.