Other than that gripe, Ardern — who is gratingly referred to as "Jacinda" throughout — can have few complaints about Leading With Empathy, which is as comprehensive a hagiography as anyone could wish for. Are the examples given of Ardern being a nice person examples of empathy, and if so is she simply being a genuinely caring person or demonstrating true leadership? It is debatable whether the authors have proven their case, although very few people would argue that Ardern is not a gifted crisis manager. Like almost all contemporary political biography, Leading With Empathy suffers from the problem that its subject’s career is not over and hence unable to be placed in context. But for now, even with all its faults, Leading With Empathy is a decent enough assemblage of what we know about Ardern so far.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 04, 2021 16:35 UTC