Simply put, when women do well, everybody does better.

If being a woman is a factor politically, it's usually not because of a conscious bias, but because women are a novelty.

There are no more excuses for leaving women out of the inner circles of power. Qualified women are everywhere. Women are ready for leadership; they just need to be identified and asked.

Political success is often dependent on the ability to be heard above the din of controversy and debate and to set a course with one's own compass.

Every time a woman leaves the workforce because she can't find or afford childcare, or she can't work out a flexible arrangement with her boss, or she has no paid maternity leave, her family's income falls down a notch. Simultaneously, national productivity numbers decline.

It's time to recognize what compromise means: no side wins or loses all.

If we are to create a new agenda for family/work policies, employers and employees have to take a seat at the same table and recognize their mutual gains.