Honesty’s the best policy
A month on, perhaps it’s now possible to reflect with a bit distance and objectivity on the furore that blew up after Jacinta Ardern announced her resignation from the post of Prime Minister of New Zealand. Now the cavemen who wished 'good riddance' have crawled back into their holes, what did the hubbub that followed teach us about the nature of leadership today and, more importantly, about honesty?
Perhaps it was her youth – Ardern was New Zealand’s youngest ever leader when she was appointed to the position aged just 37 in 2017. Perhaps it was her liberal and progressive policies. Perhaps it was the compassion, grace, steadfastness and humanity that she brought to the role. Perhaps it was because she’s, you know, a woman. Perhaps it was all of those, and more. But what was striking was the number of keyboard commentators out there who seemed genuinely mystified by her rationale for walking away. The simple honesty of her admission she had ‘no longer had enough in the tank’ seemed as alien to them as, IDK, chewing with their mouth closed or shutting the lid before flushing.
We’ve all become familiar with – immune even – to the correlation of leadership with muscular (and masculine) qualities like strength, focus, intensity and ruthlessness. It’s bred into us via the education and the messages we receive from school, home and culture – and was supercharged, enabled and fetishised in business for decades. If you want to get ahead, you might need to take a head on your way up. Greed is good. Lunch is for wimps. Show me the money…all of that.
Whether or not you hurt others, or yourself, on your way up the ladder wasn’t as important as scaling the next rung. And ignore the voice in your ear telling you something isn’t right. Just keep pushing forward, and always take the path signposted ‘wealth’ and / or ‘power’ – whatever the cost.
Whether or not the reaction would have been the same had it been uttered by a man aside, Ardern’s example demonstrates that when you’re faced with a crossroads your truest compass bearing should be marked ‘what’s right for me?’. If what you’re doing doesn’t fulfil you and you’ve exhausted your options to make things better, then change. If the brand for which you work no longer shares your personal values, find one that does. And if you’re burnt out – if you’ve ‘no longer got enough in the tank’ – then be honest with yourself. You do no-one – your colleagues, your employer, yourself – any good trying to run on fumes.
Knowing when it’s time to move on isn’t the antithesis of ambition. It’s an acknowledgement that how you’re defining those ambitions – what success looks like – has changed. That takes real strength, and shows why Ardern’s honest acceptance that she should take another path now is such a refreshing – and sadly, rare – example of humility in leadership. In the press conference following her resignation, she was asked how she wanted to be remembered – and answered ‘as someone who always tried to be kind’. By stepping down she was being kind to herself first and foremost – so next time you’re faced with a similar choice, just ask yourself this: ‘what would Jacinta do?’.
By Ricky Wilkes
