In a rare sit-down interview, Ursula von der Leyen says she is determined to lead the E.U. through yet another crisis
in Germany with a child under 18 worked part-time, rather than full time.) “It was very modern and what I took back home was: never again will anybody give me a bad conscience about wanting to work and have kids.”She became involved in local politics for the CDU after they returned to Germany in 2006. Though she disliked being compared to her father, she says his experience in politics meant it always seemed like a viable career path.
In 2013, she was appointed Germany’s first female Defense Minister, widely considered the hardest job in Berlin, not to mention the most stereotypically “male.” The woman who was touted as Germany’s next leader—indeed, her 2015 biography had the titlewho saved her career, putting her name forward when negotiations for a new President of the European Commission were blocked.
She is reluctant to dwell on that period. “You learn a lot where leadership is concerned by not only being successful, but also if things go wrong,” she says simply. Though she’s the first woman to serve as President of the Commission, she says the world she now inhabits is “much easier” than the defense ministry. Even so, she isn’t immune from workplace sexism.
It’s a strategy von der Leyen deploys now. She seems preternaturally calm, no matter how tough things get around her. (Resorting to national stereotypes, British media have even
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