Lois Frankel’s 2004 book Why Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office told women that they needed to adopt more ‘masculine’ traits to get ahead at work. Twenty years on, and it’s clear that certain masculine traits haven’t exactly helped push humanity or organisations forward – stress levels are at all-time highs, economic growth is stagnant and our ‘psychological contract’ with capitalism is fraying at the edges.

In an increasingly polarised world, what we really need is more empathy and understanding, both for our colleagues and our customers. And while markets might be competitive, it’s often collaboration and cooperation that drives high-performing teams.

Jacinda Ardern’s leadership of New Zealand through the Covid crisis demonstrated the opposite of the ‘corner office’ philosophy. She put empathy, kindness and trust at the heart of her leadership. She told her citizens the hard truths that leaders closer to home tried to ignore or wish away, and she delivered tough messages with a care and grace that felt refreshing or even a little alien when viewed from afar. She hung out to answer her citizens’ questions on Facebook Live, and she didn’t shirk or sugar-coat the difficult parts. She exhibited, in the most testing and difficult of circumstances, a compelling case for leading with kindness – and a quick look at Covid mortality rates in New Zealand compared to pretty much anywhere else in the world tells its own story.

Why leading with kindness will get you ahead at work