BUILDING FUTURES
My new role as ambassador at the
United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR) is a good
responsibility. I was in Jordan recently.
There were 50,000 people waiting on
the border of Syria to cross over into
Jordan. They were all running from
the same threat that the Western
world has been so terrified by. They
have no choice. And I’ve seen that,
once again, the people who are most
at risk are women and children. A lot
of them have been separated from
their husbands, or their husbands
have been killed. Unfortunately, in
such a masculine society, these
women are at risk of developing
negative coping strategies, like early
childhood marriage and keeping
children out of school for a long period
of time. And in the end, Syria will
eventually need to be rebuilt by
Syrians, and if you have a whole
generation of uneducated Syrian boys
and girls ... education is key.On being successful
Passion is by its very definition,
engagement. And the more engaged
you are in things, the more energy it
gives you. And so I feel fortunate to be
able to earn a living doing what I’m
really passionate about.
There are many opportunities
that come at you, good and bad – it’s
what you choose to accept that
matters. Often what looks like an
impossible situation from the outside
can present itself with a lot of opportu-
nity. A moment that is really challenging
can actually teach you much more
than standing up there and winning
an Academy Award.
A thing we often hear is that if
you’re a good mother, you can’t be good
at your job, so if you have a good career,
that must mean that you’re a terrible
mother. But in my eyes, the two things
can’t be separated, they all mesh together.
My work is my life and my life is my work.
I have children, and I have a husband,
and I have a family. And yes, there is such
a thing as a good mother who is also
professionally successful.
On self-doubt
I think women give voice to their
doubt a lot more, and I don’t
think that’s a bad thing. If you embrace
your fears and move through them,
then ... you suss out the
pitfalls and find out how
to deal with them. Every
single time I start a pro-
ject, I’m full of fear and
full of doubt, and I have to
remember the spirit in
which I said “yes” to the
project in the first place.
Before I go on stage, I’m
filled with anxiety. But the
place in which anxiety
exists is the same place
that excitement dwells, so
I tell myself: I’m not anxious, I’m excited.
And I try to use what could be a negative
energy to fuel my performance.
On education
I think our educational experience
is absolutely vital. Our identity as
women is born in our childhood and
adolescence ... what is possible for us.
If you feel like, for instance, engineering
is not a possibility, then you start to
close doors. You say “no” to things,
rather than saying “yes” to things.
And it’s also such an outmoded, old-
fashioned way of thinking, this idea that
to empower women you disempower
men. If we get rid of this thinking, there
is opportunity for change. We really
have to sweep it out of the room, once
and for all. If we want to keep progress
happening, we have to keep these things
on the political agenda, because unfor-
tunately being a woman is political.On empowering women
Why would women want to behave
exactly the same way as men? I think
there’s a lot of chutzpah, a lot of bravado
that goes on in the way that men do
business, in the way they create. Which
is wonderful in its own right, but it
can also lead to a very particular type
of work. Women should also be able
to make things in the way that they
make them, and not apologise for it.
It’s a chance to change working culture.
I think the world is broken, and empow-
ering women is a way to fix it.
I’m not saying women are
special creatures that need to be
treated differently. If you decide to go
into the army, then you’re going into
the army and there’s a certain code of
conduct to follow. But there’s a chance,
in many industries, to
take a step to the left
and try to do things
differently. When you
invite someone from a
different nationality, or a
different set of cultural
boundaries and experi-
ences, and if you embrace
that difference, then the
work will be shifted
because of those influ-
ences. Similarly, if you
invite a woman into a
male-dominated environment, then
there’s an opportunity to evolve the
process within a given organisation.On looking ahead
I would like to be a lot more patient,
and still. I’m very active, and compas-
sionate and full of love and adventure,
and I quite think I’d like to be
more quiet. I admire women like USDemocrat Senator Elizabeth Warren.
She’s extraordinary: her intelligence,
and her thoughtfulness, and the long-
ranging arc of her thinking in politics.
Unfortunately, politics has become a
very short-burned, soundbite obsession,
when in fact what you need is long-term,
measured, compassionate strategy.
If you ask anyone who’s success-
ful, in any industry, they don’t feel
that they’ve reached somewhere,
they’re constantly trying to go
somewhere else. There’s a restlessness
within them that keeps them seeking
out more adventure, and more chal-
lenges. But that’s living! If you stop
challenging yourself, stop asking
questions, if you stop loving and experi-
encing, then it’s over, isn’t it?“If you stop
challenging
yourself, if you
stop asking
questions, if you
stop loving and
experiencing,
then it’s over ...”@Work