Jacinda Ardern: Leading With Empathy

by Supriya Vani, Carl A. Harte

Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy is a major biography of one of the most important and inspirational leaders of the twenty-first century, based on interviews with the New Zealand Prime Minister herself.

Jacinda Ardern was swept into office in 2017, with a wave of popular adulation dubbed ‘Jacindamania’. Her victory seemed heroic: in less than three months, she rose from deputy leader of the opposition, to the highest office in her nation. Few in politics would have believed it possible; fewer still would have guessed at her resolve and compassionate leadership, which, in the wake of the horrific Christchurch mosque shootings of March 2019 and the struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic, brought her international acclaim and a second term.

Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy carefully explores the influences – personal, social, political and emotional – that have shaped Ardern. Acclaimed peace activist and journalist Supriya Vani and writer Carl A Harte build their narrative through Vani's personal interviews with Ardern, as well as the prime minister's public statements and speeches and the words of those who know her. We visit the places, meet the people and understand the events that propelled the daughter of a small-town Mormon policeman into a committed social democrat, a passionate Labour Party politician, and a model modern leader.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Politics, Leadership, Biography Memoir, Inspirational

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2021

About the author

Supriya Vani is a noted peace activist and human rights campaigner. Supriya has interviewed and discussed the issues of human rights and world peace with numerous Nobel Peace Prize laureates, international celebrities and world leaders, including Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of Zealand, Former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Prime Minister of Iceland Jakobsdottir. She regularly speaks at universities and government embassies, and attends international gatherings and forums such as the world summit of Nobel Peace Prize laureates and Laureates and Leaders. She is a board member of the Caravan for Peace, an NGO with more than fifty international Olympians in partnership with Peace and Sport. Supriya's debut book, Battling Injustice, based on her interviews with 16 female Nobel Peace Laureates, won her acclaim and endorsements from a number of prominent international figures, including Malala Yousafzai, Mikhail Gorbachev and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

Reviews

[Dalia (book_o_creativity) · Rating 4 out of 5]

On 19 October 2017, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters agreed to form a coalition with Labour Party, making Jacinda Ardern the next prime minister. Ever since she assumed the office in 2017 she has made the right choices. For most of the 20th Century, women were simply not seen as fit for a career in politics and given scant opportunity to prove otherwise. Where once parliament was male dominated and remained a bastion of paternalist tradition, her generation was first to be brought up with women holding key posts in national politics. She not only managed to shine in the highest office of her land but inspires others to be a compassionate and empathetic leader.

This is a biography which explores the events & influences that sowed the seed of empathy in her mind from her early childhood. How the charming PM grew up amongst the poorest town in New Zealand, which is famous for gang violence, what shaped her mind & carved the dazzling Jacinda Ardern from a teenager who always willingly help others. This is an exceptional tale of an exceptional leader based on first-hand Interviews.

The book not only gives a glimpse of Ardern's early life & political career but a whole picture of New Zealand's politics too. Crowded with information, this book talks a good deal about other important politicians of pre & post Jacinda era, however the informations are scattered all over the place & it was quite difficult for me to follow some of the political & diplomatic matters. Though the book does not solely revolves around her, there are many instances where the spotlight shifted from her & she is shadowed by other politicians. But this book is no trash talk, only informations.

The most remarkable of her sincerities are well portrayed here, besides briefs on political terminologies are commendable. Ardern is truly a role model for anyone who has a goal but lacks overwhelming confidence & an inspiration for working mothers. I enjoy reading political books especially about great personalities like her.

[Mark Sold · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of rubbish. Jacinda seems to be less than empathetic when it comes to actually running New Zealand. She is a total communist.

[Nathan Blyth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author did not officially interview the PM for this book, and even Jacinda Ardern now claims the authors emails mis-led her to believe the book would be of a woman/political aspect rather than about her as a biography.
Instead its all pretty much based upon fantasy, a young female leader whom is proclaimed as a hero of the nation and triumph to all. The embellishments continue, many are easily disproven. Such as Clark Gayford having Maori ancestry is completely false. (He was infact a drug dealer in his youth, and high school drop out, yet author proclaims him a hard working and intelligent man who is capable of great things) Jacinda also didn't inspire a movie. She's also not the one whom even made the decisions about NZ Covid strategies, she followed Australia, and closed the border 3 days after stated and were not one of the first countries to do so.
Neither author has even visited New Zealand, and it shows with so many misassumptions made. I read and highlighted many. 1/3rd of this book is easily disproven from official government websites or news hubs. The other 2/3 is just tripe, and doesn't mention any short comings or that all her prior election promises were never kept, and key matters have worsened significantly since.

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy - Supriya Vani and
Carl A. Harte
I not really quite sure how to review this book, as Jacinda Ardern has distanced herself from this book. See note.
I have no fixed political allegiance, because of political parties penchant for lying and covering up the facts. However I do appreciate people with a social conscious who are empathetic. Jacinda Ardern is the right leader to help New Zealand through the Covid Crisis.
‘It takes courage to be an empathetic leader. And I think if anything the world needs empathetic leadership now, perhaps more than ever.’ Jacinda Ardern
Note
Jacinda Ardern criticizes new biography, saying author misled her. New Zealand prime minister says she agreed to interviews on basis that it was about a group of female leaders and ‘not specific to me’

On this one I'll let you decide. I enjoyed it but Taking the Lead by David Hill and Jacinda Ardern by Michelle Duff were both superior editions as they weren't just waxing lyrically about Ardern's inter national reputation, they actually had come substance to them and are written by New Zealander's
.

[Avidd_Readerr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever read newspapers collection in form of a book then this book is for you, in initial stage book seems very interesting, book talks about jacinda’s family, her father and mother, their profession, how she found connection between her and politics. Shows us how she have feminist genes because her great-grandmother fought for the rights of women but this doesn’t tell us anything about her childhood expect a few things, this is jacinda ardern’s biography why the book doesn’t have anything about her childhood? Then, story progress itself smoothly and made herself interesting but only till part one of the book, then I don’t know why authors chaos the book in second part. In second part book doesn’t seem like this is the biography of jacinda instead it portrays herself as the history of New Zealand’s politics. Talking about those people who didn’t have any connection with the book, describing the tweets posted by other politicians, unnecessary chapters which are just waste and don’t worth to read and just writing those things which are reading by people in daily newspaper. Wasting 10-15 pages on her pregnancy and her baby I was like I don’t want know about her baby and how many days leave she takes from her post, in which hospital she gave birth, I know her because of her strategy to fight against covid but again this tell us those which I have read in newspapers. In one of her interviews she told the interviewer that she is a woman, She multi-task. What does that statement signifies? Are men don’t multi-task? Are they trash for society?
Just giving that information which I have read before this book, her tweets, her strategy for election campaign ( I know how politicians do their campaigns), How much vote she in that or this year or in this particular election ( again I know about all these things or information). This is not a biography of Jacinda ardern, calling this book as a biography and selling will be a betrayal for readers of this book.
I don’t recommend this book to anyone, it will be just a waste of your two important resources money and time.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from the controversy apparently surrounding this work, its evolution, and release, which I hesitate to comment on, I personally found it quite well-rounded and informative.

It’s obviously geared towards a global audience more than a purely NZ one, and to this end I think the details presented and “insider information” on New Zealand life and culture occasionally imparted are quite enriching. Although I would have wished for maybe a more critical lens more often, if only for the sake of reducing potential allegations of bias, it would probably be best to complement this biography with others on Ardern. Overall a very enjoyable read, underlined by the fact that I practically devoured it in a low-energy year.

[TheClassicBee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high hopes when I bought this book. When the news came out that New Zealand had the least cases and no masks etc. while the whole world was in a lockdown, under the leadership of Jacinda Ardern. I wanted to know more about how she managed that.
This book, however, tested my patience and I gave it so many tries to make some progress. But, IDK, I just couldn't find the politics interesting. Never found myself in the groove while reading this book. So, I skimmed the last 60% of the book just to get the gist (it took me more than a year to read that 40%).

[Navya Sri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Empathy and compassion are the values of higher concept. Empathy truly means to care on an emotional level of others needs. Often empathy requires a perspective to sacrifice one's own needs in order to understand others.


This book covers the life of Jacinda Ardern in two parts. It attempts to capture the major decisions made in the LGBTQ rights, climate change, leading to a wave of popularity. The experiences and opinions of her that lead to take office. It gives details of her schoolings days, higher studies and her works as a activist. It tries to set a point of how necessary it is to have the idea of peoples situations and with the information available to lead a life with empathy.


This is a good read for those who are moved by the wave of Jacinda mania during the pandemic. It gives the information about the working of unicameral New Zealand Parliament works. I feel its a little biased on the account of her work. I rate it 3.5

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a reflection of the politician, just a reflection of the book. Nothing to do with the theme of empathy, just an excuse for someone to write a book about the history of NZ politics. Got given this book so I read half, then watched the Jacinda documentary ‘Prime Minister’, and just skimmed the other half of this book. Definitely read her memoir instead or just watch the documentary.

[Anantha Giri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me be honest. I hadn't done my research and bought the book because of the title. It was only after I had the book in my hand I searched about it I realised thr controversy behind the book. Basically Ardern had been interviewed by authors not for her biography but as part of interviewing number of women leaders. I had conflicting feelings about reading it but gave it a go anyway.

I personally like and respect Ms. Ardern. In a world filled with Strongman-authoritatian leaders (one of whom is currently wreaking havoc in Europe) she is a refreshing exception. She is unafraid of wearing emotions in her sleeve and feels very genuine and empathetic. That's why the title of the book was a big draw.

However the book comes across as uncritical swooning over her personality. The term 'profoundly influenced' is thrown around a lot and halfway through the book I was not sure if it was on purpose or plain lazy writing. At least in the beginning it appears more like a propaganda material, something authoritarian leaders would put out to gain support of masses. In that manner this book has done great disservice to Ms. Ardern.

It wasn't really a remarkable book for a remarkable woman and a leader.

[Salmaa Gafoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

LJacinda Arden by Supriya Vani and Carl A Harte.

This book is the biography of New Zealand Prime Minster Jacinda Arden ,who was from a place full of uncertainties and violence but rose up into an amazing and inspiring leader.

This book will inspire you to be a good human being.

Supriya Vani and Carl.A. Harte wrote the book is a very beautiful way .

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a nice book that uses interviews and other media sources to talk about Jacinda Ardern's life. For me I think the book started slow and took a while to pick up to the guts of the story. However I am sure many others would enjoy reading about Ardern's life growing up.

[Kasia S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Jacinda Ardern’s influence on both feminism and politics. I also recently relocated to New Zealand, and this gave me even more reason to read a book about her.

Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy was an interesting recollection of the important moments in Jacinda’s rise to power. It was well researched (factually), and I learned a lot about NZ politics and some historical references in the process. If the authors decided to just write Jacinda's biography, that would have been a much better read. However, they wanted to prove that Jacinda leads with empathy (which she surely does). And in doing so, Vani & Harte tried way too hard to prove their point.

Balancing the amount of detail that readers should know is a tough job. Unfortunately, Vani & Harte didn’t do it very well. The book has far too much detail, taking readers on journeys so far removed from Jacinda’s story that sometimes I was asking myself “what am I even reading this for?” For example, I really didn’t need to know what type of taxis there were in Seoul when Jacinda went at the age of 18, what she had to eat and drink after she gave birth, whether she liked being called Cindy... Detail is important, but not if it doesn’t bring much to the overall storyline.

This was my biggest problem with the book. To the extent that in my opinion, some chapters were completely unnecessary. The authors were taking readers back to Jacinda’s XIX century ancestors, telling the history of feminism or bringing up some random politicians (some not even from NZ) in relation to Jonny Depp and Amber Heard’s Australian dog scandal. It felt like either
A) the authors run out of things to talk about and had to fill out the pages somehow, OR
B) they were so excited to learn new things for the first time about NZ and Australia that they decided to tell readers EVERYTHING they discovered.

I also wasn’t a fan of the authors' stylistic approach to this book. I found their style very subjective and over the top. I prefer the non-fictional journalistic writing to be mostly factual with a pinch of humor - somehow suggestive but leaving readers the space to make their own mind. Leading with Empathy was extremely subjective, full of odd poetic metaphors and psychological profiling that the authors were not qualified to make (nor was it based on anything else rather than their assumptions).

As I said before, I am a big supporter of Jacinda, but no one is a saint. In everyone's career, there are setbacks, every politician has enemies. The authors tell Jacinda’s story through the rose-tinted glasses which makes it unrealistic and unreliable. As a result, I didn’t trust half of the things I was reading and took it all with a pinch of salt.

Despite a few annoying bits and bobs, I’m glad that I read it. I would recommend it to those who are new to NZ politics and Jacinda’s story. At the same time, I am also quite keen to find a better book about Jacinda – perhaps one that was commissioned and approved by her.

[Livre_monde · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a quote from Warren Bennis, "The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born."


This precisely sums up Jacinda Ardern's journey towards becoming one of the most successful and celebrated leaders in the world. Who knew that a simple girl from Morrinsville would one day become the prime minister of New Zealand.


Sir Winston Churchill, from whom Jacinda drew inspiration during her formative years, once said, "The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground." This precisely sums up Jacinda's leadership style. 


Reading about Jacinda Ardern reminds me of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Sushma Swaraj as I find a lot of similarities in these leaders. What's common? They all were empathetic, approachable, and people-oriented. Above all, they were always themselves. "Be who you are" is the mantra. They all had the presence of mind, and shared genuine love and care with people. I think that's what makes a great leader. 


Coming to this book, the first half talks about Jacinda's life before becoming NZ PM, covering her childhood, college, and work life. It also talks about several leaders and people who were influential in developing the leader that Jacinda is today. Some readers may find this part of the book a little boring. But I would still recommend reading as it is insightful to know about the formative years of Jacinda. 


The real thrill comes in the second half when Jacinda is dramatically nominated as PM candidate by the Labour Party in a desperate attempt of protecting the party from yet another devastating defeat in the elections. The events that unfold after that are no less than a thriller. Starting with campaigning for elections in 2017, this part of the book talks about several major incidents during Jacinda's first and second term in the government, women empowerment, her famous speeches, work style, crisis management, disaster management, and whatnot. It's inspiring and thrilling to read this part of the book. 


The title of the book is apt to the content. And, I just loved the cover. There is no beating around the bush. This book is all about facts and information collected by Supriya Vani. Overall, it's a nice book and worth a read.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a hard one to review. I have been interested in New Zealand for almost 15 years. It’s my dream travel place and I follow their news, events and culture way more than I do Canada. On any given day I can probably give you a better idea of what’s happening in NZ than my own country. 😂 I remember Jacinda being elected and how exciting it was and how happy I was for her and the country.

I was devastated (but totally understanding) when she announced in January she was resigning. She has been through so much as a world leader in her six-ish years, I don’t blame her one bit. I knew in needed to read this right away (it’s been on my shelf since 2021 I think) because I didn’t want it to become horribly out of date with her decision.

That being said, I was disappointed to learn that Jacinda does not condone this book. I had another one on my tbr, I think by Michelle Duff that I had researched as being unofficial so removed it and specifically chose this one because I thought it was more legitimate. 🫠 Only to start reading this and realize it apparently isn’t. However, I think it’s legitimately researched, just that the info and context given from Jacinda wasn’t truthful or has “pivoted” from the original use as per the authors’ explanation. It makes me feel weird but maybe not as much? There is a TON of political history throughout the book to link Jacinda’s story together but I was very much surprised at how much of this book wasn’t about Jacinda at all. I don't understand politics at the best of times, and I certainly don't understand New Zealand politics lmao so I glazed over a lot of the historical parts.

The parts about Jacinda personally were interesting and I think written well. That's really what I cared about and why I picked up the book. I loved the inclusion of the photos. I think overall this was a well researched book and does paint Jacinda in a good light (not that she shouldn't be) and I enjoyed that aspect of it. But it was also definitely too political for my liking. If you're interested in an overarching New Zealand political book with a focus on Jacinda Ardern's run as prime minister and have interest in her as a person this is for you!

[Bindu Bala · Rating 5 out of 5]

🅱🅾🅾🅺 🆁🅴🆅🅸🅴🆆

𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒂 𝑨𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏: 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒚

🆀🅾🆃🅳#: Do you like reading Memoir, Biographies, if yes? Share name of your fav

#AOTD: Becoming

ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ: Supriya Vani & Carl A Harte
ꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛ: Kindle/ Paperback
ᴘᴀɢᴇꜱ/ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀꜱ: 392
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Biographies
ᴘᴜʙʟɪꜱʜᴇʀ: HarperCollins India

🗣️𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑: SUPRIYA VANI is a peace activist, speaker and author. As a speaker on human rights, she actively participates in international peace organizations and forums, including the Permanent Secretariat of the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, the Nobel Women's initiative, and the United Nations.
🗣️Carl A. Harte is an Australian writer, actor and book editor. The recipient of an eLit Gold Award, he has worked for such authors as the late former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Om Swami, Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, Arun Tiwari, Farahnaz Ispahani, Swami Agnivesh, Kishalay Bhattacharjee and Maxwell Pereira.

🐧SYNOPSIS: I'm not much into biographies but since ever I had read Becoming I had started enjoying reading memoir, biographies and documentaries. I have picked this book because of my developing interest into memoir and the way I adore Jacinda Arden. Since she has started serving as a Prime minister of NewZealand Jacinda is always part of the news headlines but I'm glad because of all good and obvious reasons. The reforms she has put into the country be it human rights, dealing with violence, LGBTQ rights and handling pandemic as well.

🐧NOVELTY: This book has been written on the basis of the first hand interviews and her public statements. She is not only a compassionate leader but also a great human being as well

🐧GUESSWORK: The book unravel about the influences of Jacinda's life how she turns out to be an empathetic leader. How her childhood was and who had influenced her

🐧LANGUAGE: The language of the book is enchanting and polished.

🐧FINAL CALL: This book has shared some insights about Jacinda Arden which is really influential and motivational for readers. would recommend this book to everyone out there.

RATING: 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧 /5

#readwithbindu
#review with bin
#bookwormbindz

[Weekndreads ._. · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I want to be a good leader, not a good lady leader. I don't want to be known simply as the woman who gave birth."

Words by Jacinda Ardern 💫

▪︎Book : Jacinda Ardern: Leading With Empathy
▪︎Author : Supriya Vani & Carl A. Harte
▪︎Ratings : 4.4/5
▪︎Pages : 392
▪︎Genre : Biography
▪︎Language : English
▪︎Publisher : Harpercollinsin
▪︎Publication Date : 25th May 2021
▪︎Format : Paperback

#qotd What or who inspires you?

💫 BOOK REVIEW 💫

🇦🇺This book is a highly impressive memoir of "Jacinda Ardern" the 40th prime minister of New Zealand written by two outstanding authors one being 'Supriya Vani' and the other being 'Carl A. Harte'.

🇦🇺So basically the book has been allocated in two different halves, wherein the first part they illustrated about the predominant record of New Zealand (including some historical context) and in the second quarter they wrote about the overall journey of Jacinda from being a little girl who grew up in Murupura (a small town in North Island, New Zealand) to serving her nation as a Prime Minister.

🇦🇺Overall, this book will take you on an incredibly inspiring journey right from the beginning. It has an elaborate description of discovering her road to success. Though it is a bit prolonged but will definitely not put you out of the zone. It will keep you engrossed till the end.

🇦🇺It maintains quite a remarkable narrative style. I personally loved the book as it gave birth to a distinctive perspective of leadership. There are particularly few women empowering leaders who bought in such a tremendous upheaval which are worthy of looking up at. Hence, it will be a great help to all who are in seek of motivation.

🇦🇺Coming back to the cover, it is kept simple yet relevant. It nearly took me about 2 days to complete this book. And to be honest I didn't have much expectations but it surprisingly kept me absorbed till the end so yeah it is absolutely worth a read!

🇦🇺Lastly, I would like to recommend this book to all people who are exploring for a good book to inspire you.!

You can thank me later for the recommendation!😂

[Harsh Tyagi · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Whatever you do, let it be your best"

As very obvious from the book title and cover, this book is a well-written biography of Jacinda Ardern, the fortieth and present prime minister of New Zealand.

Ever since she has taken office in 2017, Jacinda has made the right choices related to terrorism, women's and LGBTQ rights, labour reforms, climate change and battle with the pandemic. To be honest I wasn't much aware about her achievements except how she handled the COVID-19 crisis, before reading this book. The book is based on first-hand interviews with Jacinda and her friends and collaborators, and her public statements and speeches.

The book has all her story right from the childhood to present life, how she grew up to be the compassionate and exceptional leader she is today. It even includes colored photographs from her personal and public life, enhancing the reading experience. Who could have wondered she could be even be a DJ?

The book talks about the role models she had since her childhood like her father and several influential icons like former prime ministers and many events that shaped Jacinda and made her into the upbeat, optimistic personality and inspiring politician she is. Massively informational, the book is a perfect description of politics in New Zealand before and after Jacinda took the office.

I'm not a big fan of reading biographies but this one was exceptional and I'm very glad that I picked it up. Definitely a must read to delve into the life of a leader who is motivated by a different set of goals, a different way of doing things, without changing her personality or character traits.

[Ekta M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacinda Ardern (as an 8 year old) " I wanted to be a clown one day, because I wanted to make people happy"


Born on 26th july 1980 in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern is the 40th and the current Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The book starts with narrating Jacinda's childhood, her family and how she first got inclined towards politics. The book shows Jacinda as a child who was way more mature beyond her years and had incredible common sense. She was engaged student and a high achiever at school. Jacinda's first significant contact with a politician was when she was aged 14. It was a family member who introduced Jacinda to National Politics. The book goes on to narrate how she was elected as a vice president of the young labour in 2003. The book shows what values did Jacinda had that shaped her into the person she is and also the people that had great influence on Jacinda. They include her father, her teachers, her aunt, the then prime minister of NZ etc. It shows how she always made the right choices be they related to terrorism, womens and LGBTQ rights, climate change etc. The book shows her as the leader leading with empathy.

Reading this book was a great experience for me as I got to know about many new things...About New Zealand...About its current PM. As much as I have loved reading this book there were some instances where the story drifted and it felt like some news channel babbling about elections and stuff. What I felt is the book was mostly filled the politics part and I wanted to read real action work by Jacinda. Nonetheless it was a great read. Jacinda's story is inspiring.

[Suyogaya Awasthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It is the weak that expresses aggressiveness to show strength, but real strength, is in the gentle”. The lines connote a vital precept of existence and when the same is infuse in the aspect of leadership, what materializes is a ray of hope and change for something better and that is Jacinda Ardern and her life which forms the whole of the novel presented in 455 pages and 37 chapters
Delving further, the author has traced the roots of Jacinda as she was born in Murupara which happens to be a small settlement in the North Island of New Zealand, however the same got plagued by stagnancy and has been considered a dangerous place to live and how her mother took it upon herself to raise her kids by leaving her job and this decision was made by someone else for her and the book steadily progresses towards the later part of her life in the 2nd chapter and its effects over her can be visibly seen from the later chapters as in the form of “The Activist Awakes” and the progression takes place in a steady fashion keeping the readers gripped. In addition to the same, the book has a lot of contemporary relevance in the form of Leadership while handling the COVID-19 crisis and the matters pertaining to Women Rights as well
It must be noted that the book is well laden with the required information that enlightens the readers about Jacinda and at the same time gives us a greater insight over her vision and what makes her stand out. The combined effect of all these elements make this book a must read for everyone

[Amulya Kulkarni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Name: Jacinda Ardern - Leading with Empathy
Authors: Supriya Vani and Carl A. Harte
Genre: Biography
Rating: 3/5

They say leaders are born with experiences and adversities. A true leader is one who not only leads fearlessly but also with compassion. One such leader is Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She took office in 2017 and created a wave popularly known as 'Jacindamania'. This book is a biography of a leader who is leading her country with empathy and compassion even during the COVID-19 crisis.

I have always been inspired by women leaders growing up. There are very few female politicians in the world for young girls to look up to. This book is good for all the young girls out there who want to get inspired.

The book is based on first-hand interviews by peace activist Supriya Vani with Jacinda as well as the prime minister's public statements and speeches. This biography introduces us to the journey of Jacinda, a little girl who grew up in Murupura, to becoming the prime minister of New Zealand.

The book is very brief as I expected some more details about Jacinda. Other than that, the book is inspiring and reveals the charming, thoughtful and sincere side of Jacinda Ardern. It gives a glimpse into the making of an exceptional leader, administrator, and international icon.

[Oishani Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is Jacinda Ardern ?? 🤔🤔
She is a New Zealand politician who has served since 2017 as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and as a leader of the Labour Party. She was first elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP in 2008, and has been the member of Parliament (MP) for Mount Albert since March 2017.

In this book leading with empathy we can read and explore her life journey as well as her personal development. She is charming, thoughtful and sincere, and gives readers a glimpse into the making of an exceptional politician, administrator and international icon.

Ardern describes herself as a social democrat and a progressive.The Sixth Labour Government has focused particularly on the New Zealand housing crisis, child poverty, and social inequality.she directed the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had been praised and endorsed worldwide. She has also made the right choices, be they related to terrorism, women's and LGBTQ rights, labour reforms or climate change. She is not just a politician but truly a role model.

This book is written beautifully with amazing snapshots for her memories and experiences. It's quite inspiring and motivational read and I absolutely loved it. Written lucidly and narration is great. Overall a great book and highly recommended to all!!

[Saumya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a biography very well written by Supriya Vani and Carl A. Harte. This biography explores various events that took place in Jacinda's life. She grew up in the unsafe and poorest region of New Zealand and how her journey took place from there to Prime minister of New Zealand. This book is a glimpse of her childhood to college days to elections. How all the circumstances shaped and carved her to deal with people with empathy. This book is divided into two parts, part 1 is about a little bit and the overall history of New Zealand whereas part 2 is dedicated to Jacinda’s journey.
My take
This is a very well researched biography written by Supriya Vani and Carl A Harte, For me, the book was a little slow in the beginning (part 1) but once this book picks up it was hard to keep it down, I loved reading this book, I got to learn about such an amazing leader. What I admire most about her is how she took a stand for herself when the opposition tries to make a poor remark about her "pregnancy" and "maternity leaves" If you will watch any of her interviews, you will see she not only emits positivity but also she is empathetic and people-oriented. I feel this book should be a must-read.

[Richa Tamhane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book superbly flashes Jacinda's life right from her childhood to the time she leads her country with empathy.

The first part of the book talks all about her childhood, her schooling, how she got influenced towards making the change, her early career and first job. Coming from a place Murupara, Jacinda from childhood was a person who wanted to bring betterment in the society. A very zealous being when there was time to contribute socially. Her role model was Helen Clark, thirty-seventh prime minister of New Zealand. She worked with her and hence had a powerful influence. She left the church and The Labour Party became her only religion. Jacinda Ardern is a humanist.

The second part of the book had everything in and out of the New Zealand politics. It is full of insights in which Jacinda showed her attributes as a leader and making the right decisions. And the Jacindamania begins. She had an expansive, philosophical view of her role in government and that's what made her different. Anyone aspiring to be a leader would love reading this book!

Jacinda's thoughts carved in this book are truly must read whether it is about her work, family, leadership or life. I'm completely in love with this lady's "Different way of doing things!"

[Zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An autobiography of Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ,the 40th prime minister of New Zealand.

“If you want something DONE, ask a woman” – Margaret Thatcher

Two instances that remind me of the Ardern effect would be ‘The 2019 Christchurch mosque attack’ and the masterful ‘ go hard and go early’ campaign against COVID-19. Being a fan of female politicians in general,the read was an absolute delight to me.

The credits behind the frequent positive articles about New Zealand owes to ‘JACINDAMANIA’.Her grades of empathy can be well understood by her perspectives of problem identification since childhood. Jacinda’s personal life incidents depicts her qualities as a sense of social responsibility activism and debating against injustice and strong morals with absolute commitment.

“ I respect people who have a set of values and ANY faith” says Jacinda on her religious view, Which was evident from her secular,warm and engaging behaviour with the victim families of the Christchurch attack.

And an another person whose views interested me was Helen Elizabeth Clark,whose mentorship was quintessential in Jacinda’s political life.

And informative,inspiring and insightful read recommended to all the dreamers out there !

[Calum Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today’s review is: Jacinda Ardern - Leading with empathy. A fantastically informative and inspiring biography about the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

From her childhood to early political career to dealing with various crises, including Covid; it’s a reminder that compassion and leadership don’t have to be exclusive of each other.

Occasionally the book is a little dry with finer points of elections and policies but the chapters are short and the various people are likeable, mostly.

I got choked at the section about the mosque shootings and was repeatedly struck by how human and empathetic she is. I 100% agree with the actor Sam Neil who says lots of people in other countries say ‘could we borrow her for a while.’

At times it’s shocking how she has been treated in the media and by other female MPs but it’s also a testament to the importance of finding mentors to support and guide you. Inspiring, challenging, funny and warm. This is an easy:

5/5 - recommend 💯 percent

P.S whenever I’m asked my favourite country I say, in terms of beauty > New Zealand wins every time. Breathtaking. ❤️

[Harsh Kaushik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a biography that delves into the incidents that sowed the flower of compassion in Ardern's head as far back as she can remember. What moulded Jacinda Ardern's thinking and sculpted her into the brilliant Jacinda Ardern from such a youngster who really voluntarily helped people as she grew up in New Zealand's poorest town, which is known for gang violence.
Jacinda Ardern has made the correct decisions on terrorism, women's and LGBTQ rights, labour reforms, environmental issues, and the fight against the pandemic since taking office in 2017. Towards being fair, I didn't know much about her accomplishments before to reading this book, other as to how she managed the COVID-19 issue. The book focuses on Jacinda's own words as well as those of her colleagues and associates.
The book tells her whole life narrative, from childhood to modern day, and also how she evolved into the caring and brilliant leader she is now. It even contains colour photos from her parts of human life to make the reading life more enjoyable. Who'd have guessed she'd turn out to be a DJ one day ?
She is an example for young moms and a role model for anybody who has a dream but lacks tremendous courage.

[Lisa Anybookanytime · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bio that took me a lot longer to get through than I expected. This was partly my fault, as I expected it to be "lighter" in tone, more of a pop bio than the detailed, information dense book that it was.

It contains lots of historical content about New Zealand politics, which gives more context to certain sections but for me, it was more than I needed or wanted to know!

The biography content covers her life from childhood through to 2020, with the new afterword in this edition bringing it up to November 2022. These parts are interesting, and I did enjoy learning more about her background in particular.

Things to be aware of:

*This book is written from a *very* admiring perspective. It is full of quotes and descriptions referring to her in various glowing terms like "utterly sincere", "friendly and direct", and kind and generous.

*Jacinda Arden has distanced herself from this biography, claiming she was misled regarding the focus of the book, believing it to be about multiple female leaders.

Note also that the paperback edition does not include photos which I understand were in the original hardcover.

Overall, I'm glad I read it. However I would have appreciated a more balanced approach. As someone who has only seen her through Australian media coverage, I know I am probably unaware of certain complexities and criticisms.

However I have rated this in the middle with 3 stars, because I think a closer reading of the blurb would have warned me in part what the book was like, so it's partly my fault for making assumptions about the contents.

Please also note that the copy I read is the paperback green "portrait" cover, however I am adding my review to this Goodreads entry as it seems to be the primary one for this book.

***

Disclaimer: this book was gifted by the publisher in return for an honest review

[Aastha Goel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book talks about Jacinda Ardern, the Prime minister of New Zealand.

It is considered a biography, but mostly consists of direct interviews of Jacinda, her friends and collaborators as well as the Prime minister's public statements and speeches.

The first half talks about Jacinda's life before becoming Prime Minister which includes her childhood, college and office life.

The second part talks about her life when she became prime minister and how she led with empathy.

Jacinda's choices about terrorism, women's rights, labour reforms or climate change showed what a good leader she was. She loved and cared for her people.

Before reading this book I knew only one thing about Jacinda Ardern that she was the famous Prime minister who handled the situation of covid in her country so well but now after reading this book, I know a lot about her from her childhood till she became Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Overall the book is good.

I loved reading this book and would definitely recommend it.

[Shelfrighteous__ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacinda Ardern : Leading with Empathy ~ Supriya Vani

“One of the criticisms I’ve faced over the years is that I’m not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I’m empathetic, I’m weak. I totally rebel against that, I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.”

This book is a biography of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand. She is the youngest female Prime Minister of New Zealand, a mom, and an empathetic leader.

Many times Ardern has been criticized for her empathetic nature, and has been told that she’s weak just because she is empathetic and that is not fit to lead a country. But she has proved all of them wrong with her creativity and her work is admired all over the world. Under her leadership and guidance New Zealand had been able to fight every possible challenge and difficulty. According to her, it takes courage to be an empathetic leader and the need of the hour is such that the world needs empathetic leaders more than ever!

This book is a well researched, informative and insightful read!