What makes Jacinda Ardern a great leader?

 What makes Jacinda Ardern a great leader? 

(Oral Speech)

TIMER: 2m 53s

Talofa lava and warm Pacific greetings, my name is Sauma and today I’m going to be sharing my oral speech about what makes Jacinda Ardern a great leader. Let’s get started!

First and foremost, it is important to know what the meaning of a leader is. According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of a leader is someone who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. Even though this description tells what the role of a leader includes, there are a lot of values and factors that go into being a good leader. Some of these qualities include being courageous, honest, humble and helpful. However, a stand out trait of being a good leader is having compassion. 

Someone who possesses compassion in their everyday leadership is Jacinda Ardern. Jacinda Kate Laurell Arden was born on 26 July 1980. She was first elected as a member of parliament in 2008 and has since served as a politician until being made Prime Minister of New Zealand in 2017. She is the 40th Prime Minister and is the third female Prime Minister to lead the country. Throughout her reign, she has done many things to show compassion and leadership. 

The first example I will discuss is Jacinda Ardern’s response to the Christchurch Mosque attack in 2019. Following the tragic event, Arden showed solidarity with the muslim community by wearing a headscarf and delivering a speech with the famous statement ‘they are us’. Jacinda’s heartfelt words while wearing the cultural attire of those who had their lives taken touched, everyone in New Zealand and all over the world. Any leader can respond to a tragedy with plans of prevention but not all leaders can show empathy and emotion. This is what makes her different. 

Another example of this was her actions during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Jacinda Ardern was one of the first leaders worldwide to enforce a strict and long nation-wide lockdown. When other leaders worried about resources and the economy, Ardern sacrificed money for the health and safety of her country. She made sure that everyone was protected and worked together. Her government also provided support for families and workers affected. This just shows that again, she puts compassion in her leadership to not only guide her country but genuinely care about her people. 

Through these examples, it can be seen that leadership goes beyond just making decisions. It is about caring and serving people with a compassionate heart. When leadership combines effectiveness and empathy that is what makes a leader great. Jacinda Arden is the best example of this. 

That concludes my speech today thank-you for listening. 

Greeting,

A big thank-you to my aunt for helping me write this speech, on What Makes Jacinda A Great Leader? it was a writing competition in our literacy class through the Team 5 block, but unfortunately I was not chosen, but in the end I wanted to share my speech, and show what have our  prime minister Jacinda Arden has done, I hope you all enjoyed my writing, but make sure to take a look above.