A Different Kind of Power: Reflections on Leadership and Jacinda Ardern

2017, Christchurch.

When I took this photo in 2017, I was sitting at my desk finishing the final weeks of my master’s in education, and tidying up my research “Relationships and Partnerships: The Role and Influence of Spirituality and Religion in Schools.” Jacinda Ardern had just been voted as Prime Minister of NZ, and I had just completed two internships at two polar opposite schools; one a low-decile, co-ed state school with a predominantly Māori population, and the other a high-decile Catholic girls’ school.

Both had their beauty and their flaws. But what struck me most was the invisible undercurrent shaping every classroom: the belief systems and values of the teacher. I wanted to understand what makes a great leader, and does spirituality or the lack thereof affect how we show up for others?

Through months of ethnographic research and reflection, I found something that would shape my understanding of leadership forever. That teachers who identified as spiritual, regardless of religion or belief system, produced the best outcomes for their students. Not because of dogma, but because they led from the heart. They embodied presence, empathy, and adaptability; the qualities that transcended rigid systems and binaries.

And those who clung to control, to “this is right, that is wrong”, often created tension in the classroom. Students felt unseen, unheard. And those teachers who were diverse or queer working in religious environments? They were more likely to burn out, isolated by systems that still equate difference with danger.

At the time, I turned down what would have been a “dream job” in education. My health had begun to falter, as a tumour on my ovary made herself known, marking the beginning of a long and personal journey with fertility challenges. Nearly a decade later, I would find myself facing similar themes: being in the wrong environment, suppressing parts of myself to fit in, and dealing with the physical consequences of that misalignment.

That’s when it clicked for me again that leadership is a spiritual journey and my burnout and challenges of being a young woman leader were all part of a bigger story. And in the depths of my time lost in the abyss, came Jacinda Ardern with her latest memoir and documentary, “Prime Minister”.

I’ve met my fair share of leaders, from CEOs and founders to politicians and artists. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that leadership reveals who we are at the deepest and darkest levels. Some lead to be seen; others lead to serve.

Watching Prime Minister, the new documentary on Jacinda Ardern, I was reminded that courage in leadership is rarely loud and can often be in the quiet decision to do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Or they’re camped out on the lawn in a new age witch hunt. 

I’ve never been one to idolise people in power. My background in governance and tech taught me to humanise and respect titles, not romanticise them. But Jacinda is the one exception. Without her example, I don’t think I would have dared to imagine more for myself. 

Her legacy for me isn’t just political. It’s for the small kid in me from Waikato who had a pet lamb growing up. She showed her that empathy is not antithetical to strength, and that leading with your heart doesn’t make you naive, it makes you courageous.

Because in the end, leadership is not about having all the answers. It’s about having the heart to ask the tough questions and face the data, to choose life over dollars.

So, when I look back at that old photo of me finishing my master’s and dreaming of changing the world, I see a woman who already knew what she was meant to do; she just didn’t know the path ahead.

And as Jacinda showed us, power and the path of leadership can look different to what they used to be. It can be gentle, kind, and it can change everything.

Watch my review and thoughts of Jacinda Ardern’s documentary “Prime Minister” here.