Evaluating a Public Healthcare Leader's Style

 

 

Pick a public leader that responded to the Covid-19 crisis and discuss what leadership style or characteristics they demonstrated. Was their behavior consistent with your expectations for a leader in that position? Why or why not?

 

Sample Answer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leadership style demonstrated by Jacinda Ardern during New Zealand's initial and subsequent responses to the COVID-19 crisis is best characterized as Transformational Leadership, heavily flavored with Authentic and Empathetic communication.

 

Leadership Characteristics Demonstrated

 

Idealized Influence & Visionary Motivation: Ardern quickly articulated a clear and decisive national goal: "Go hard and go early" with the ultimate aim of elimination of the virus, not just mitigation. This provided a unifying, collective purpose for the nation.

Example: She introduced the four-level Alert System , a clear, pre-emptive framework that simplified complex decision-making and allowed the public to understand the rules and expectations at each stage.