Jacinda Ardern will leave the office on February 7
The outgoing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern set an example before others not just in governance but also as a mother. The 42 year old politician became the youngest female head of a government when she was elected at the age of 37. Not just this, she became the world's second head of the government to give birth while in office, after Benazir Bhutto.
Jacinda Ardern will step down as the PM of New Zealand on February 7.
PM Ardern's leadership qualities were hailed during COVID. Her adept handling of COVID situation helped the island nation from the pandemic it is believed.
However, apart from governance there are several inspirations one can draw from her motherhood skills.
Balancing motherhood
She is a rare example of balancing motherhood and work and being said that she has set a model before young mothers. Her motherhood is a rare exception to the traditional definition of leadership which is mostly male dominated across the globe.
Made she made invisible workplace force become visible
Jacinda Ardern made millions of women like her visible before the world. She broke the barrier which has been curtailing the talents and ambitions of women. She shattered the wrong beliefs and prejudices that have been there about married women and mothers.
On her partner-”he's not a babysitter”
Her partner chose to be a stay-at-home dad. This is, she had told the media, a privilege many other women do not have.
"I have a partner who can be there alongside me, who's taking up a huge part of that joint responsibility because he's a parent too, he's not a babysitter," she had told Radio NZ.
"I am not the first woman to multi-task"
A pragmatic person herself, Jacinda has always felt lucky to be working on two very different aspects of life: job and motherhood.
"I am not the first woman to multitask. I am not the first woman to work and have a baby - there are many women who have done this before," she had once told the media. We know, there could have been many more such women!
Even when on maternity leave she read cabinet papers and was available for consultations. In one video we can see her with a pile of official documents and rocking her daughter's cot.
"If you ask me why I'm in politics, my answer would be simple -- children"
Jacinda had earlier mentioned child poverty as the reason why she joined politics at the age of 17. She often visited refugee children as a part of working for an international youth organization.
"If you ask me why I'm in politics, my answer would be simple -- children. I genuinely believe our success as politicians should be based on the status of children. We need to change how we measure success and our indicators for action," she had said in an ardent speech in the Social Good Summit 2018.
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