From day one, my mantra has been - and will continue to be - that as a government we were there to serve the people, not the other way around.

I have led the way for moving women from traditional roles to strategic positions and inspired girls and women throughout Africa to seek leadership positions.

Some countries need extra stimulus in specific areas. Something has to be done against high youth unemployment in Greece and Spain, for example. But in the end, there is no way around it: The debt levels have to come down.

If we take into account that women have had the right to vote only for some 100 years - in some countries even less - and that we have already won seats in governments or presidential offices, I understand that men look at this rise with some anxiety.

As a woman, I think my style defines my leadership in that it's a gentler, more compassionate approach. Rather than tell people what's good for them, I consult, I listen and I compromise where it's in the best interest of the citizens.

During conflicts and tense situations, women often work in a more collaborative way, include a larger variety of viewpoints, and function more frequently outside traditional hierarchical means. Women leaders often take a consolidated and reconciliatory position in the society.

It was my mother, despite the limitations placed on women of her time by society, who insisted I be allowed to go abroad to study, in sturdy defiance of the male elders of the family, who protested and decided that I should be married off instead.