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On the day Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern imposed a strict national blockade in March, no one in New Zealand had died from the coronavirus. Compare that to United Kingdon: 335 people had already died when Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the British public to stay home.
Like many world leaders, Ardern held daily press conferences where he called on New Zealanders to join in their battle against the virus. “We are all in this together,” he told them. Ardern broadcast live Facebook videos from his sofa at home, apologizing for his casual outfit.
Now New Zealand is “halfway to Everest,” Ardern said last week when he announced measures to ease the New Zealand shutdown.
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His “go hard and go early” strategy combined with a warm empathetic way worked. New Zealand recorded zero new cases of coronavirus in a series of days last week and Ardern’s popularity rating is at its highest point.
But Zoe Marks, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, says there is nothing inherently feminine about this style of leadership.
“The home chat approach originated with Franklin Roosevelt in the United States. The problem is not that only women can do it, it is that men are afraid to let their guard down and be identifiable, “said Marks.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was also not afraid to show a more human side. Frederiksen posted a video of her and her partner doing the dishes and singing during a weekly closing TV show.
Like New Zealand, Denmark moved quickly to close its borders, then its schools and businesses. Other female-led Nordic countries followed suit, and have seen relatively low COVID-19 mortality rates. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, by contrast, took a risk and rejected the idea of a blockade, instead of relying on the public to maintain social distancing. It remains to be seen if his strategy is worth it, but currently the death toll in Sweden is by far the highest in Scandinavia.
Suze Wilson, who teaches leadership at Massey University in New Zealand, says the evidence is mixed on whether men and women rule differently. Some research shows that women leaders can be more participatory in their approach, she says.
“Research shows that women are more willing to listen to advice and include different perspectives and try to weigh them when making decisions,” said Wilson.
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But Wilson says it’s not helpful to put too much emphasis on gender differences. Jennifer Tomlinson, professor of gender and labor relations at the University of Leeds, agrees. Tomlinson says the theory that men and women have clearly different leadership styles is an outdated concept. She agrees that there is evidence to suggest that women in power are more open to accepting ideas and working with others, but she argues that there is nothing stopping men from doing the same.
“There is some evidence, slightly mixed, that perhaps women are more collaborative in their style and that it can be a fairly effective approach. But it doesn’t mean that men can’t do collaborative leadership, ”said Tomlinson.
Countries where leaders have listened to scientists’ advice at the start of the crisis appear to have gained an advantage by containing the virus.
In countries where leaders have listened to the advice of scientists early in the crisis, they appear to have gained an advantage by containing the virus. Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir and German Chancellor Angela Merkel presented widespread evidence early. Merkel, who has a doctorate. in quantum chemistry, it is not known for having a warm and approachable way of liking Ardern, although it has earned the nickname mutti or mommy. Merkel’s approach is more severe and pragmatic. She warned the Germans from the beginning that 70% of the population can become infected, and in their press reports, they used simple scientific facts to explain their government’s strategy. But his direct approach is paying off. The death toll in Germany has remained noticeably lower than neighboring France, or Spain and Italy.
Countries with male leaders, such as South Korea, Vietnam and Greece, have certainly also managed to keep infection rates low. And there are countries with women in the lead that have not fared as well, such as Belgium, where the death rate is remarkably high, although Belgian authorities argue that they are comparing the figures differently than the rest of the world.
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Rosie Campbell, a professor of politics at King’s College London, says that while the pandemic may have highlighted the success of women leaders, it has also more importantly highlighted the failed macho government style of some more populist leaders.
“We have had this tide of populist and macho leaders who have deliberately chosen to portray themselves that way, to be invulnerable.”
“We have had this tide of populist and macho leaders who have deliberately chosen to portray themselves in that way, to be invulnerable. You know, it’s an extreme leadership style, “said Campbell. “And I don’t think that in a crisis it will be very effective because in reality people need to tell the truth to the power.”
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Campbell says the leaders who are proving to be most effective are those who have shown some humility and vulnerability in recent months. These traits tend to unite people in support of their government. The hyper-masculine approach taken by people like US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fails to unite the people behind their governments’ strategies, he added.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the virus repeatedly, saying that for most people, including himself, it would be nothing more than “just a little flu.” Brazil has by far the highest mortality rate in South America. In the United States, Trump said the government had the situation “completely under control” in February, and that everything would be fine in April, when the weather warms up. Instead, the United States now has the highest number of deaths in the world with more than 80,000 deaths.
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With so much attention paid to women leaders, it is easy to forget that they lead less than 7% of the UN countries. Wilson said the challenges women face in accessing positions of power remain considerable. Those who do so often have to reach a much higher standard than their male counterparts, he added.
“It’s a little bit easier for a relatively normal man to pass, but it’s very, very difficult for a relatively average woman to pass.”
“The chances of an average and mediocre woman coming to power are very, very low, because the types of tests of their ability they will be subjected to are much higher,” said Wilson. “It’s a little bit easier for a relatively normal man to pass, but it’s very, very difficult for a relatively average woman to pass.”
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It remains to be seen whether the praise that many women leaders are receiving at the moment will have any impact on the number of women rising to the top. Harvard professor Zoe Marks said the society does not have a good track record in celebrating women’s achievements.
“It is often the case, and research has shown, that we are more likely to credit a team than an individual woman who leads a team than a man in charge,” said Marks. “And we are also quicker to blame women for any failures.”
Marks says it is now up to everyone to recognize the success of these women leaders and also to change the gender stereotype that women are less decisive and less secure than men. This pandemic has clearly shown that this is not the case, he said. Wilson is optimistic that the example women leaders are setting will have a positive impact on future generations.
“The fact that there are so many examples of women leading very well in this crisis, I think, will help offer more stories to tell the growing young girls, to give them the confidence and ambition to aspire to leadership.”
Above all, Wilson says he hopes it will show voters of both sexes that women are more than capable of handling a global crisis.
“In fact, women are pretty good at it,” he said.
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