Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult. – Charlotte Whitton

I admit, I am a mummy’s boy.

If that admittance causes a large portion of my male readers to cringe and feel the need to pull me aside to talk some manly sense into me, let me stop you before you embark on that mission.

I am proud to blurt out that statement. Admitting I admire and love my mother does not mean I have just poked my male super-id ‘balloon’ with a pin and now my testosterone is leaking out at a squealing rate.

What it means is that I am grateful for and acknowledge that which she has done in my life to make me the person I am. The sacrifices she made, the unconditional love and support she supplied and, frankly, the crap she had to put up with at times. Hell, she still does!

My father died when I was still young and my mother was left to fend for herself and rear me and my sister. She, like so many other single mothers, needed to juggle parenthood with a full-time job to ensure that our heads stayed afloat above the breadline – and she accomplished this with strength and perseverance.

With passion and courage, women have taught us that when we band together to advocate for our highest ideals, we can advance our common well-being and strengthen the fabric of our nation and ourselves. Each year in August, Leadership pays tribute to all those mothers, wives and women out there taking life by the scruff of its shirt and shaking it about.

Whether it be on the corporate or domestic front, there is no denying who the stronger sex is, let us be frank.

This is a time to remember and celebrate women from all walks of life who have shaped us as individuals, who are paving the way forward in business and are making us a stronger nation in all fields of life.

Enjoy the inspirational women in this edition; and if you may have forgotten to thank them often enough as it is, at least remember to thank the women in your life come National Women’s Day on 9 August.

And thanks to you, mom.