As a woman who writes about leadership, I get invited to talk to a LOT of women's groups. It's fun, A glass of Pinot Grigio, a little conversation about Jimmy Choos, what could be better? I really really really really WANT to be part of the conversation... helping women succeed. Hey, I can still remember being the first woman to anchor a newscast (my first job). I can remember reporting from the Moscone Center when Geraldine Ferraro was introduced as Walter Mondale's running mate. I had tears in my eyes.

So here it is, 2011 and the good news is that women are entering the workforce in larger numbers than men. And the news we know so well is that by the time you walk through the doors of the execute suite, 86% of those offices will be occupied by men.

Things are changing. A couple of weeks ago, the pharmaceutical firm Mylan said Heather Breach will succeed Robert Coury as CEO. Around the same time, IBM tapped Virginia "Ginni" Rometty to succeed Sam Palmisano. If no women step down before the end of 2011, there will be 18 women running Fortune 500 companies in 2012. Previously, there haven't been more than 16 female CEOs at Fortune 500 firms at the same time.

Do I WANT to write about this? NO! I really don't WANT to have the conversation ONE MORE TIME. And yet, it is worth having. Last week I was speaking at yet another WOMEN'S conference, and a bonus was shaking hands with one of my heros, Frances Hesselbein, the iconic leader of the Girl Scouts from 1976 to 1990. Let's just say Frances has been at it for a long, long time. She has been a model to women forEVER. She won a presidential medal of freedom from President Clinton and she was no spring chicken then.

You'd think someone like Frances would be sick of talking about women and leadership but when she handed an award to Keiko Fujimori, the first woman to almost become president of Peru, Frances was positively.. fresh, excited, optimistic. "I''m sure we are looking at the woman who will be the NEXT president of Peru."

I ask you ladies and gentlemen, who can be bored with this conversation when Frances isn't?

Still, I have decided my goal is not to be invited to another women's conference, because THERE ARE NO MORE WOMEN'S CONFERENCES. Women and men working side by side in the executive suite not because it is right and fair but because we've all decided we just want the best leaders at the top. Period.

In the meantime, I'm booking for 2012. And I am HAPPY to speak to women's conferences. That is, of course, until there are no more of them.