An Interview With Madeleine Albright: On Being A Woman And A Diplomat

    The resource above is a TED interview with Madeleine Albright who is the Former US Secretary of State and one of America’s leading authorities on foreign affairs. She has became the highest-ranking woman in U.S. government history after being confirmed as the first female Secretary of State in 1997.

    In this video, Madeleine Albright not only talks about politics and diplomacy but also shares her experiences of being a US Secretary of State and her opinions of women in leadership positions that enables women to support each other and overcome “the glass ceiling”.

     Here are some quotes from the interview that I think are inspiring to women who intend to make their voices be heard at the table and have an impact in the male-dominated world.

“And so what I have felt -- and I have looked at this from a national security issue -- when I was Secretary of State, I decided that women's issues had to be central to American foreign policy, not just because I'm a feminist, but because I believe that societies are better off when women are politically and economically empowered, that values are passed down, the health situation is better, education is better, there is greater economic prosperity. So I think that it behooves us -- those of us that live in various countries where we do have economic and political voice -- that we need to help other women. And I really dedicated myself to that, both at the U.N. and then as Secretary of State. ”

“I'm chairman of the board of an organization called the National Democratic Institute that works to support women candidates. I think that we need to help in other countries to train women to be in political office, to figure out how they can in fact develop political voices. I think we also need to be supportive when businesses are being created and just make sure that women help each other. Now I have a saying that I feel very strongly about, because I am of a certain age where, when I started in my career, believe it or not, there were other women who criticized me: ‘Why aren't you in the carpool line?’ or ‘Aren't your children suffering because you're not there all the time?’ And I think we have a tendency to make each other feel guilty. In fact, I think ‘guilt’ is every woman's middle name. And so I think what needs to happen is we need to help each other. And my motto is that there's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other.”