Shari Storm: Perhaps it's because I am halfway through "Womenomics," or perhaps it's because I'm a C-level executive, publishing a management book, and still picking up my three kids from daycare at five every day, that caused me to roll my eyes at Jack Welch's assertion that there is no such thing as work-life balance. That is certainly a provocative statement to make, but I'm not sure how true it really is.

Granted, what he may have been saying is that there is no way to become CEO of a Fortune 100 company if you don't work 15-hour days. He knows better than I what it takes to be CEO of a company like GE. But how many of us want to be CEO of a multinational corporation? Very few. Most of us want a job that pays us well, gives us a modicum of prestige, and doesn't suck the life out of us.

I look around and see countless examples of women who have jobs that provide just that, and they are living their best version of a mother. I know so many women who have fantastic jobs and are fabulous moms.

In fact, I argue that motherhood often makes women better bosses and better candidates for that corner office. Here are three examples:

1. Maternity leave forces a woman to walk through every function she oversees and ensure that she has cross-trained effectively. Leaving for an extended period helps develop new talent or make clear weak spots. By examining procedures, assigning backups, and trusting others to fill in gaps, a manager builds a stronger, better, faster team.

2. Day care pickups create focused efficiencies. It has been my experience that when high-performing women suddenly have a hard stop time every day, they become far better at staying focused on mission-critical activities, spending less time on second-priority issues.

3. Raising children helps people become better at multitasking, handling stress, and being more empathetic. Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Ellison has written a phenomenal book on the subject, titled, The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter. Ellison cites legitimate social and neurological research to substantiate this claim.

What I don't know is how much Mr. Welch's comments impact women's continuous struggle to prove they can be great contributors at the office and simultaneously provide an environment for their children to thrive. On the one hand, he is a management icon. On the other hand, things are changing rapidly and women (moms in particular) are quickly becoming the most powerful buying segment and wielding tremendous, newfound influence. I guess the best thing working moms can do is to keep working hard, working smart, and not pay too much attention to people who say they can't be successful in both worlds.

Shari Storm is the author of "Motherhood is the New MBA: Using Your Parenting Skills to be a Better Boss" (Thomas Dunne / St. Martins Press). Storm earned her Masters of Business Administration from Seattle University. In addition to being an executive at a $400 million financial institution, Storm is a mentor for Seattle University's graduate program and writes for Working Mother Magazine blog. Storm has three young daughters.