We are both partners in major law firms; we are married to each other; and we have a daughter who is now 25. For many years we have participated in fundamental decisions about women’s and men’s careers — their hiring, assignments, supervision, compensation, and promotion — and we have mentored and coached many women in a variety of professions. While Andie has been writing and speaking on gender stereotypes and biases for almost 20 years, we began to do much of this work together a few years ago. So who are we?

Andie: I was lucky. I began my law career in a small firm where I never encountered gender bias in any shape or form. I learned to be a real lawyer without even once being made aware that I was a “woman lawyer.” When I left that firm for a much larger one, I started to see dramatic differences in the ways women and men were being treated at the law firms I was interacting with. I saw women being passed over for opportunities and responsibilities; I saw women struggling with obstacles in their career paths that were not in men’s; and I saw fabulous women who faced unreasonable and unnecessary demands as they tried to practice law and raise children at the same time.

Coming face-to-face with gender bias was a shock for me. I probed the problem, talked to women at many firms and businesses, and examined assignment and promotion policies. I eventually realized that the only way women would advance in their careers to the degree they aspired — and all of the research shows that young women are just as ambitious as young men — is to take control of their career situations. I concluded women could not passively accept gender-biased organizations. So about 20 years ago, I started to do everything in my power to help professional and businesswomen achieve both career success and personal happiness.

During the past 10 years, I have addressed more than 100 groups through keynotes and workshops, and have written many articles. The following snippet from an email is typical of the reactions to my message: “Wow! … You hit the nail on the head! … You have stated the keys to success candidly, effectively, and succinctly. I especially like the down-to-earth practical examples that you give.” Because of emails like these, I decided to expand my work in an effort to help as many women as I possibly could.

Al: The firm I helped found and where Andie started her legal career merged in 2015 with a much larger firm. During the more than 40 years before that merger, I know we offered women career advancement opportunities second to none: varied, substantive, and gender-neutral. Yet despite our best efforts, we continually lost far more women than men, and we never had more than 10 percent women equity partners. I now believe we could and should have done more to mentor, coach, and sponsor our women attorneys. But I also believe that too many of them were unable to perform at the top of their game in our male-dominated environment. We had few senior women to serve as role models for them, and their ability to effectively compete against their male colleagues for opportunities and advancement was not what it needed to be. As a result, many of these terrific women became frustrated, confused, and unhappy. And they just left.

After watching this process repeat itself over many years, I started to meet with a group of talented women outside of our firm who had been able to advance successfully in male-dominated work environments. As I talked with them and with Andie, I grew increasingly convinced that what our young women lacked was information and coaching. I have now been coaching highly talented women for several years, and I have watched them, with the right encouragement and preparation, claim their fair share of the seats at corporate and professional leadership tables and speak with voices that are being listened to.

Women don’t need to change who they are to get ahead, but they do need to follow some concrete, practical advice about how to deal with the stereotype-driven dynamics of their interpersonal relationships with their male colleagues, supervisors, clients, and customers. With that advice, I believe, they can change those dynamics and structure their careers so that they find them professionally and personally fulfilling.

Us: By speaking and writing together, we believe we can offer truly helpful and immediately actionable advice to women. We present a variety of communication techniques that women can use to avoid the career-disrupting effects of gender biases. Women should be able to go as far and as fast in their careers as their talents and hard work will allow them. Based on our experience and recent research, we are convinced women will be able to do just that with the information and advice we offer. We are writing this blog to share that information as widely as possible. So please, join us on this journey!