Whether your company or department has 15 people or 150, if you did not start your business with a gender-balanced team, achieving gender parity can feel like an insurmountable challenge. I’m here to tell you it is not.

I recently analyzed the data in McKinsey’s Lean In reports, Best Places to Work lists and publicly available company annual reports to develop deeper insights on why companies have such a difficult time moving more women into leadership roles.  What struck me is that the majority of the workforces at top-rated companies for women have been with those companies for less than 2 years.

When I was in college, my dad told me there were no senior women in his law firm.  And then he said, “But when there is an executive woman in the room, everyone pays attention. Take advantage of this and make sure you have something smart to say.”

One of the most important things men can do to improve gender equity at work is to help break down the men vs women silo-ing into everyone being seen and treated as individual people. I’m focusing on men here because most senior level positions are held by men, so it is even more important that men set the example.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Georgene Huang, CEO and Co-Founder of Fairygodboss, an online career community focused on empowering women in their job searches by providing insights about companies from people who have worked there. In our conversation Georgene shared some of the key insights she has gained from interacting with the Fairygodboss community.

Jefferies Financial Group CEO Rich Handler and President Brian Friedman wrote an open letter to their staff stating “We cannot control the markets but we can control how we act and behave... we choose fairness, integrity, transparency, inclusion, openness, meritocracy, and equal opportunity for all.” It is beautifully written and in direct response to a recent Bloomberg article in which 30 Wall Street executives describe how they “avoid women at all costs” as a result of the #MeToo movement.

Since the passing of law requiring publicly held companies based in California to have a minimum of one woman on their Boards of Directors by the end of 2019 there has been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of quotas. Will this forced change make a real difference? Or will it create resentment toward women who are appointed and end up hamstringing their ability to be effective?

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.