If you asked me to identify the top two challenges facing women in leadership positions in Australia today the two that immediately spring to mind are that there are not enough women holding formal leadership positions and the dialogue around women and work is tired - it hasn’t changed in 30 years!

The statistics on the first issue are stark: Only 26 per cent of senior positions in Australia are held by women. These women are courageous, good listeners and they take risks. They have tough skins in male-dominated industries. But there are far too few of them. One of the approaches to increasing the proportion of women in leadership roles lies in the way we respond to the second issue – the outdated conversation.

We still talk about women’s issues and work-life balance for women. We need to change the dialogue so we talk about family issues. We need to change society’s expectations so that men also feel that it is acceptable to take time off during the child rearing years. Leadership needs to come from the top – men and women need to provide the example. We need to have the discussion with our partners - that we are ambitious, that we want to move forward in our careers and be prepared to admit it. This takes compromise – it will only work when corporate Australia and senior leadership expects men to take a back seat for a period as well. We need a cultural shift whereby couples work together to achieve this and men are able to change their perception that they have to be the main breadwinner. We still need to address the prejudice and judgement made by society toward men who are ‘stay at home Dads’.

My advice to women aspiring to attain leadership positions is threefold: Have courage. Get a mentor. Invest in yourself.

Have courage. Face your fears and take risks. Be self-aware, understand yourself and how you operate. Be aware of how you impact others. Be clear on your values.

Get a mentor /coach. Feel that you deserve one. Have someone who is batting on your side, who wishes you well, who will be honest with you, who believes in you, who will challenge you, who will get you to look at yourself in the mirror and see if you like what you see. If you don’t like what you see in the mirror, find someone who can make you accountable to change.

Start planning. Invest in yourself.Know what you need to do to be where you want to go. Do you need to do further study? Do you need to network? Do you need people who will support you in the journey? Do you need to have some honest conversations with your partner about your ambitions and desires?

An aspect of leadership I’m particularly passionate about and which I encourage all aspiring leaders to embrace is social leadership. Social leadership asks you to look at yourself and challenge yourself and the way you lead. It asks you to really look at a system to make meaningful change in a way that is not often done. It asks people to question their values, their role, their purpose in their world of work, of family and society. It asks people to take responsibility for their actions. Social leadership is about meaningful social change to make a more positive society and not see value in merely the bottom line, but in other areas – human rights, disability, refugees, asylum seekers and poverty, amongst others.

I am equally passionate about Opportunity International Australia and I’m a member of Opportunity’s Council. Opportunity provides small loans to women in developing countries to help them build businesses, earn regular incomes and free themselves from poverty. The reason I’m on the Opportunity Council is because I’m 100 per cent behind Opportunity’s work. If I’m going to put my name to something, it has to be incredibly transparent, professional and have great leadership. Opportunity has those features.

Another reason I support Opportunity is that I believe in the microfinance model. It simply makes sense from a business perspective. By giving small loans to woman in developing countries so they can grow businesses, we are making an incredible impact on the whole community. As they say: “If you give a woman a fish she can feed her family. If you give a woman a fishing rod she can feed, educate and give dignity to her family, her community and make huge positive changes.” The fact that women pay interest on their loans, means firstly, that we are business partners with them, we are not giving them charity. Because the interest covers the operating expenses, the money is recycled and used again and again by other women in the community. It also means our relationship is filled with dignity.

I also like the way Opportunity partners with organisations on the ground in the countries in which it is working. This ensures employment opportunities, cultural awareness and sensitivities and an acknowledgment that the people living in their own community have the knowledge, skills and capabilities necessary to make positive change, according to their own situation and cultural norms.

Poverty alleviation is just one dimension of the social leadership I believe all aspiring leaders should integrate into their careers so that when they are corporate leaders they will head organisations that give equal prominence to the bottom line and their social responsibilities.