Recently, New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern had the social media swooning over her as she kicked out Covid-19 from her country, having displayed exceptional administrative skills during the crisis.
Other global leaders such German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Norway’s PM Erna Solberg and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen were also praised in the media for their strong yet compassionate approach towards the global pandemic, while showing the world what good leadership should look like.
Although women have proved themselves to be excellent leaders, their representation in political and diplomatic fields is still peripheral. Women from different walks of life share with us why they believe post-corona, the world needs more empathetic leaders at the helm to fix the broken socio-economic scenario.
Genetically engineered for the helm for a long time, governments or elite marketers across the world have treated people as subjects or consumers. Iram Mirza, a social entrepreneur, believes what makes these women leaders stand out from the rest of the breed is how during the pandemic they decided to evoke the ‘citizen’ in their populace.
Iram also notes how PM Ardern apologised to her citizens after shutting down the country.
“I think the bigger casualty of the pandemic has been the collective failure of ‘alpha leadership’ across the world. I believe women are more prepared for facing disasters. Their future readiness is their secret weapon to fight unprecedented situations. These leaders proved that for a true leader, the most important factor is to be a ‘humanist first, nationalist later’, with qualities such as clarity, empathy, humility and strategic prioritisation,” says Iram Mirza.
