Mira Nair Quotes

Leadership is influence.

It matters whether women sit at the table. No one speaks up for you when you are standing outside with your nose pressed up against the glass. You cannot window-shop for power.

How does a woman in authority convey that authority? Is it possible for a woman to rule without sounding shrill? Is it possible for a woman to manage without manipulating? All of these things seem to me to be very much at the fore today, and were no less the case 2,000 years ago.

Men still have to be governed by deception.

So I still seized the power, but I felt that if I officially made myself the boss, in black and white, it would be too intimidating for the other producers and the other men who worked on the show. In other words, I had the power, but I gave them the title.

In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.

Women ruled all; and ministers of state Were at the doors of women forced to wait,-- Women, who we oft as sovereigns graced the land, But never governed well at second-hand.

… dealing with and controlling men makes you stronger.

I do believe I have certain strengths as a female CEO, such as having another level of awareness through emotional intelligence.

I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York, king of the coast, one hand, I juggle them both.

I've always been about the power of a woman - accentuating the positive, deleting the negative, whether you're talking her body, her voice or her leadership.

He knows that you have ability and what he does is he manipulates it and sort of empowers you.

Men, if you are in a position of power or authority, please respectfully continue to mentor and work with talented individuals and those with promise, regardless if they are men or women.

I think I can regard myself as a political decision-maker.

The word power has such a generally negative implication in our society. What are people talking about? Are they talking about muscles, or control?

'Power' is an explosive word, particularly when applied to women.

To govern is to choose. To appear to be unable to choose is to appear to be unable to govern.

Women are in positions of power the most radical of activists could only dream of in 1960.

I don't know if I have any particular views about women in positions of power, though I do think it's more difficult for women, particularly in a Medieval setting. They have the additional problem that they're a woman and people don't want them in a position of power in an essentially patriarchal society.

I took a gamble to exercise leadership without losing my feminine nature.

The women executives in the film industry have the power to say, 'No,' but few of them have the power to say, 'Yes.'

I think leadership is knowing what you want to achieve and then purposefully and sensibly taking steps to achieve it, remembering always that you have got to bring people with you if you are seeking to be a successful political leader.

Secrecy is the foundation of politics.

For real change, we need feminine energy in the management of the world. We need a critical number of women in positions of power, and we need to nurture the feminine energy in men.

I want to talk to these people because they stay in power and you change all the time.