My advice and wish to every woman in my country and in the world is very simple: Do not be afraid to be yourself, to have your dream, your vision, and to go for it. We can achieve a lot if we are sincerely committed to our goals and work hard to realize them.
The world has become more diversified, with women becoming a real power of change.
The examples of female success stories are important on the global scale, as they help to disseminate the idea of gender equality and to spread the roots for the actual implementation of equal rights for women and men and democratic values among different cultures, societies and traditions.
Hard work, courage and commitment - these are the key elements for success.
There is an English saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Women often become these tough ones.
I am a person of action. If I see I can bring a positive change, I will go for it, never mind that something might be hard to achieve.
If there were more women heads of state in the world, the world would be more peaceful and better focused on the improvement of the overall quality of life and welfare.
If women decide that their mission, their political career, balances out what they have to give up, they can be and are equally successful as men.
People trust those leaders who show real results of their work, rather than those who just talk about the results.
With the danger of terrorism and war spreading in the world, now is the right moment to stop and reconsider our actions and do everything possible to bring an end to the fighting, be it in your own homeland, neighboring countries, or in your region.
Women have more inner power for creation, starting from family and home and ending with professional activity and politics.
There are many examples of female leaders who are not afraid to take responsibility and openly face the challenges in the worst situations.
Any work you do, do it the best you can and achieve the maximum result.
While I am a lawyer by profession and have travelled to several countries, working and educating myself, I came from a rural background in a Third World country at a time when women were told what their place was and whose mothers enjoyed even less.
Women are more focused on the development of the quality of life in their countries. They are more involved in social and family policies, childcare, and poverty reduction.
For a small open economy that trades mostly with the euro zone it makes absolute sense to be part of the currency union. Our currency has already pegged to the euro since 2002. We don't have an independent monetary policy. We are regulated by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, but we are not able to reap all the profits. Our businesses want to save the transaction costs.
I have learned from my own experience that if you work hard you will succeed.
I ran for president because I wanted to help Lithuania and its people during a difficult time. My country was on the very edge of an economic crisis, and people were disappointed by the economic situation and the political elite. We all needed change and motivation to consolidate our efforts in order to overcome the difficulties.
If we take into account that women have had the right to vote only for some 100 years - in some countries even less - and that we have already won seats in governments or presidential offices, I understand that men look at this rise with some anxiety.
During my election campaign I was not giving out empty promises, but invited every member of society to join the efforts to work for a better life in Lithuania.
Women always look for a peaceful solution to a conflict. They are more sensible when they go for compromise or when they stand by their position. They are ready to listen to different views, to hear all the voices in society.
I don't subscribe to that school of thought that leadership can be altogether defined by gender.
Traditionally, women have a lot of different roles in society. It is very difficult to balance all these roles and at the same time to compete with men. A leading, successful woman has to put in much bigger efforts to be more competent and faster, more dynamic and organized, than a successful man.
My climb to political success was no elevator ride, and it has not always been pretty, but I persevered as one of a handful of women in the male-dominated world of politics.
During conflicts and tense situations, women often work in a more collaborative way, include a larger variety of viewpoints, and function more frequently outside traditional hierarchical means. Women leaders often take a consolidated and reconciliatory position in the society.
