A critical step in women achieving greater equity and equality at work is building alliances with the good men who are at the top and on the path to get there.  We want to be your partners and work together for the benefits that everyone receives from a more diverse workplace.  We know many of you want that too.  Here's how you can help us…

The organizers of the French Open announced last week they would not seed Serena Williams even though Williams was ranked No.1 when she left the tour on maternity leave in January 2017.*  Instead she will return No. 453.  Sadly this reflects what many women face when returning to work from maternity leave.

If you are a female entrepreneur, you may have left corporate life partly to escape the challenges facing women as they push forward in their careers.  And if you are working with entrepreneurs as an investor, Advisory Board member or Accelerator, you may think these issues are not impacting your team.  Unfortunately you are wrong.

Data shows there are huge financial benefits to gender-balanced and female leadership at companies.  These companies achieve increased sales, better returns on investment and are more likely to outperform their industry peers.  Additionally, these companies take a broader view of opportunities which results in smarter risk-taking, more innovation and breaking through the group-think that comes from too many like-minded leaders being in charge.

Tapping into your network, both within and outside of your company, can provide great insights and support for your career growth.  But first you need to be clear on what you need, who can help and where the gaps exist in your network that you need to fill...

There is much talk today about women getting stuck in middle management and falling victim to the "leaky pipeline."  But using this term is a disservice to the severity of the problem.  It implies first that there is a single path to leadership, and second that some minor patchwork will fix the problem.  It also implies it's a woman's problem when the issue is much deeper and more systemic.