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Asian Angle | What Jacinda Ardern’s experience shows about women in leadership
- New Zealand’s former prime minister served as an inspiration to the next generation of women leaders – even in the face of unprecedented hate
- Her empathy, self-awareness and deft handling of crises showed the world that a strong, decisive leader can still be compassionate and kind
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For a politician who repeatedly said she had no ambitions for New Zealand’s top job, Jacinda Ardern left office this week having forged her own path as a woman leader at the highest level of power.
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Throughout her almost six years as prime minister, Ardern demonstrated a fresh brand of leadership that prioritised being authentic, decisive and empathetic – qualities that were on full display as she dealt with a range of unprecedented crises, including a global pandemic, a volcanic eruption and a white supremacist terror attack that killed 51 Muslims.
Ardern’s decision to don a hijab in solidarity with the local Muslim community, and usher in a swift ban on semi-automatic weapons, were perceived as iconic moments of her tenure. She was also credited for her decisive Covid-19 elimination strategy early on in the pandemic. And as the first politician to bring her baby to the UN General Assembly in New York, she sent a powerful call to action for employers to support and empower women.
But even as Ardern became one of New Zealand’s most popular – and powerful – leaders in recent history, she received a level of abuse no other prime minister in the country had faced.
Taking office in 2017 as the world’s youngest female leader at age 37 was part of Ardern’s star power and also a double-edged sword. Her age led to accusations she was too inexperienced to lead, even though she had already been in politics for two decades having joined the Labour Party at 17. Detractors derided her compassionate leadership as “weak”, infantilising her with the nickname “Cindy”, while her worst critics espoused violent rhetoric and sent death threats.
“The pressures on prime ministers are always great, but in this era of social media, clickbait, and 24/7 media cycles, Jacinda has faced a level of hatred and vitriol, which in my experience, is unprecedented in our country,” former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark told reporters last week.
While Ardern’s leadership style served as an antithesis to counterparts such as Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison – whose administrations brought about deep societal divisions in the United States, Britain and Australia – she could not escape the impact of a similar deterioration in civic discourse in New Zealand over the past few years, fuelled by conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.
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