case application Jacinda Ardern: Leading with flying colours onto the tallest building in the world, the 829-metre-tall Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai. In 2020, Ardern's straightforward and empathetic style proved invaluable as she led New Zealand through the COVID- 19 pandemic. Uniquely, the country adopted an elimination strategy and implemented 'the most decisive and strongest lockdown in the world' in order to use physical distancing and quarantine measures to 'break the chain' of transmission. Ardern's advice to the population was simple and succinct: 'Be calm, be kind, stay at home . . . If you have any questions about what you can or can't do ... apply a single principle. Act like you have COVID-19. When New Zealand's health minister, David Clark, breached lockdown by taking his family to the beach, Ardern stated baldly that she would have sacked him. But right now .. . we cannot afford massive disruption in the Jacinda Ardern's empathetic support of New Zealand's Muslim community in health sector or to our response. For that reason, and that the wake of the Christchurch massacre won her followers around the world. reason alone, Dr Clark will maintain his role.' Instead, she Adam Bradley/SOPA Images/ZUMA Wire/Alamy Live News stripped Clark of his finance portfolio and demoted him to the bottom ranking of her cabinet. In this she may have learnt from When Jacinda Ardern became leader of the New Zealand past challenges. Earlier in 2020, Winston Peters, leader of the Labour party, she had only seven weeks to lead it into a national New Zealand First party and her deputy prime minister, was election. Nonetheless, in October 2017 she became New accused of misconduct relating to political donations (see the Zealand's prime minister when the Greens and New Zealand A Question of Ethics box earlier in this chapter) and Ardern was First agreed to help Labour form a minority government. criticised for not censuring his behaviour or standing him down Ardern's signature style is to bring her 'whole self' to her from his ministerial portfolios. leadership role. In her first year as prime minister, she gave Ardern's leadership style has won fans around the world. But birth to her daughter Neve, and subsequently modelled an as one critic put it, 'On empathy, she passes with flying colours integration of parenting and political duties that other [but] empathy is only part of the job of running a country. ministers emulated. In her second year, she became New During the 2017 election campaign, Ardern's Labour party Zealand's 'mourner in chief' when she led the country promised to build 100,000 new houses in New Zealand and to through two national tragedies: in March 2019, a self- introduce a capital gains tax. Neither occurred, raising the proclaimed right-wing terrorist attacked worshippers at two possibility that these failures would count against Ardern and mosques in Christchurch, killing 51 people and wounding Labour at New Zealand's general election in October 2020. It another 50; and less than a year later, a volcanic eruption didn't: Labour won a landslide victory and formed the first on White Island killed 18 of the 47 people present on the majority government in New Zealand since 1996, and New island. Ardern's heartfelt address to the New Zealand Zealand First were voted out of government. Parliament in the wake of the Christchurch massacre was both sensitive and sympathetic: 'Many of those who will Discussion questions have been directly affected by this shooting may be migrants 13.11 What sort of leadership behaviours does Jacinda to New Zealand; they may even be refugees here .. . They Ardern demonstrate? are us . . . We cannot know your grief, but we can walk with you at every stage. We can and we will surround you with 13.12 Applying situational leadership theory, what leadership aroha, manaakitanga [kindness, compassion, generosity], style did Ardern use during the COVID-19 pandemic? and all that makes us us.' Her empathetic handling of the 13.13 Would you describe Jacinda Ardern as a massacre and support for the families and community transformational, visionary or charismatic leader? members of the victims led to an image of her hugging a 13.14 Which dimensions of trust do you think have been the woman at the Kilburnie Mosque in Wellington being beamed most important for Jacinda Ardern's leadership?Drive. Desire to lead. Honesty and Self-confidence. Leaders exhibit a high effort Leaders have a strong desire integrity. Followers look to leaders who level. They have a relatively to influence and lead others. Leaders build trusting rela- don't self-doubt. Leaders, high desire for achievement, They demonstrate the willing- tionships with followers by therefore, need to show are ambitious, have a lot ness to take responsibility. being truthful, or non- self-confidence in order to of energy, are tirelessly deceitful and by showing convince followers of the persistent in their activities high consistency between rightness of their goals and and show initiative. word and deed. decisions. Intelligence. Job-relevant Extraversion. Leaders need to be intelligent knowledge. Leaders are energetic, lively enough to gather, synthesise Effective leaders have a high people. They are sociable, and interpret large amounts degree of knowledge about assertive and rarely silent or of information, and they need the company, industry and withdrawn. to be able to create visions, technical matters. In-depth solve problems and make knowledge allows leaders to correct decisions. make well-informed decisions and to understand the impli- cations of those decisions