New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern Spoke Locally About Leadership and Hope

 

 

On Friday, March 7, the eve of International Women’s Day, former New Zealand Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern, gave a lecture to an almost-full house at St. Catherine University’s O’Shaughnessy theatre. After the lecture, Ardern engaged in a Q&A with Rep. Betty McCollum. Over the course of the hour-long event, the former prime minister discussed the doubt she faced during her path to office, her COVID-19 response and other accomplishments of her administration, and her opinions on leadership and current world issues. She returned time and time again to the importance of hope.

Ardern was elected to New Zealand Parliament in 2008. During her nine years as a member of parliament, Ardern held increasingly senior roles, but never saw herself as a future leader, just as “someone plagued with imposter syndrome who was doing their best to carry out their duties.”

Then, in 2017, Ardern was deputy leader of the Labour Party when the party leader abruptly quit seven weeks before the election. The party was already crashing in the polls, and they needed a replacement — and soon.

“Everyone looked at the deputy — me — while I frantically looked at everyone else,” Ardern recalled.

 

 

Despite her hesitation, Ardern was soon hurtling toward an election, which she said she won by the skin of her teeth. Soon after becoming prime minister, she found herself with a surprise pregnancy — a background she said she shared only to explain why she still feels shocked and “incredibly lucky” to have had the path she did.

“Had you asked me — with space and time and endless consideration — to run as leader, I would have said no,” Ardern said. “Had you suggested I continue my journey to motherhood whilst being a newly anointed prime minister, I would have said no.

“I was and still am an incredibly normal person who just happened to find themselves in an extraordinary position. I am living, breathing … proof that you underestimate what you are capable of until you are doing it. I am also proof that leadership norms and expectations can be challenged.”

Only 37 years old when she was sworn in as prime minister, Ardern became the youngest woman to be a head of government of any country. However, she was not the first female prime minister of New Zealand. This historical precedent boosted her confidence.

“There had been two female prime ministers before I came into Parliament, so I didn’t question whether or not I could be a politician or even a leader … as a woman,” Ardern said. “But I did question whether I could do it as someone who doubted themselves and who was overly sensitive.”

Throughout her time in leadership, however, Ardern learned to use this sensitivity to her advantage. She realized that this trait made her more empathetic, which was not a weakness.

“I found that, all the way through my time in office, that thing that makes you think you’re not good enough will make you prepared,” Ardern said.

Ardern’s premiership is remembered for its strong COVID response. The Ardern administration enforced fewer stay-at-home weeks than many other countries did, saved tens of thousands of lives, completely eliminated COVID multiple times, and even lengthened New Zealanders’ overall life expectancy.

Ardern believes that her transparency helped New Zealanders follow her policies rather than dismissing them as radical. The former prime minister was open about the reasoning behind her pandemic decisions and about the fact that she did not have all the answers.

“I have a strong view that in times of uncertainty, we must be willing to talk about the information and the data and the evidence we have, but also what we don’t have,” Ardern said. “After all, confidence is built as much around trust as it is competency.”

The Ardern administration’s other accomplishments include helping create a World Commission to prepare for future pandemics and — in the wake of a 2019 mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch — banning military-style semi-automatic weapons and regulating the spread of extremism on social media.

In addition to talking about the events of her premiership, Ardern spoke on the state of the world, including issuing a warning about the dangers of polarization. Ardern believes that people have gotten so entrenched in their own ideologies that they have forgotten how to hear why others think what they do, and that we must figure out how to talk respectfully and constructively across differences.

“We need to grow a generation of curious, not cynical kids, who, when they hear something, dig a little deeper to see where it’s coming from, and ask a few questions because they’re curious,” Ardern said.

Throughout the event, Ardern emphasized that, despite the occasionally bleak topics about which she spoke, she is an optimist who believes in the importance of hope in politics — the need for people to have hope and for governments to provide it.

“People always look to solutions to their problems and ways to resolve their needs,” Ardern said. “But more than that, they will also look for light. They’ll look for hope and fulfillment of their own ambition. They’ll either find that in political leadership, or they’ll seek out reasons why they have been failed. … Politicians need to make a choice to cast aside fear and blame, and instead to take the risk of a road less traveled by leaders: hope, ambition and action. … After all, we can all be better if that is the leadership we expect.”