I had the privilege of attending On PAR sponsored by Microsoft and The Study USA last week. One of the things that made this different than other women’s events was that many of the speakers shared very personal reasons why they champion gender equity at work.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of hearing Rachel Ligtenberg, VP of retail for REI, speak about REI’s focus on creating an equitable playing field for women outdoors. She spoke with great pride about her company’s commitment to women as an extension of its overall purpose-based business model. REI had record revenue results last year and has spent 20 years on Fortune’s 100 best companies to work for list, neither small feats.

McKinsey and LeanIn.org’s Women in the Workplace 2018 Study* was just released, showing that women’s progress in holding a more equitable proportion of company roles remains very slow.

Why equity?  Why not equality?

Equity is fair treatment, equality is equal treatment.  If you start from a place of disadvantage and are then treated equally to a person with advantage, you perpetuate and ultimately grow the gap between the two of you.  You need equitable measures first to close that gap and get everyone to a level playing field.

Last week I had the privilege of participating in the inaugural New York Times New Rules Summit. Two hundred leaders across industries came together to identify how to create inclusive, equitable workplaces that empower women. One of the key topics that came up over and over was how to motivate male leaders to drive gender equity in a transformative and impactful way.

If you have even a remote sense that there is gender inequity playing out at work - whether you’ve heard unofficial comments or observed something more blatant - it is critical to step up and address the situation head on. Here is an action plan for what to do…

One of the most frequent topics that comes up in coaching falls under the theme of figuring out when to fish or cut bait.  Many people feel torn about when to keep trying to make a work situation work better versus deciding to move on.  Moving on can bring a lot of baggage related to feelings of failure, even if that work environment was never going to be somewhere that person could thrive in the first place.  If the person is an active leader and advocate for others at work the feelings get even more complicated.

There is nothing worse at work than a leader who talks about supporting their people but won’t put their words into action.  Male or female, it's equally bad.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got from a photography teacher was, "When you think you see everything in the frame, take a big step closer." I feel this is a great metaphor for understanding what women are up against at work and how we need to be supported.

10 years ago I co-founded my prior company's first women's group - and first advocacy group of any kind at the company.  Only 10% of the leadership team was female and the pipeline to bring more women up through the ranks was pretty bleak.  We had a lot of talented women at junior levels but stalled out mid-way to the top.  And there was no clear reason why.

Many companies have created internal groups for women, sometimes called employee or business resource groups (ERGs or BRGs).  While these can provide great support for women, they are not a silver bullet for solving all the challenges women face in the workplace. Here is what you need to know to make them most effective.

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.