This pandemic has proved we need more women leaders

Despite composing less than 7% of world leaders, women have been spearheading some of the most effective policies in response to the rapid, global spread of the novel coronavirus. Countries including Taiwan, Germany, New Zealand, Iceland, and Finland are all led by women — and have all had low death rates. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has maintained a strikingly low death rate of just 14 deaths in New Zealand, as has Tsai Ing-Wen in Taiwan with six deaths. While men generally rise to leadership positions through a display of confidence rather than competence, women are more likely to lead through connecting with and proving themselves to communities. Traditionally, male leadership has viewed governance as transactional rather than communal — thus in times like these, selfishness abounds instead of support of and concern for others. In contrast, women’s leadership has been shown to be “transformative,” instilling self-worth into a nation, and the desire to invest individual interest into concern of the larger whole, and a broader goal.

A recent Forbes report backs this up: It affirmed that women leaders responding to the coronavirus are leading with more truth, decisiveness, tech, and love as marked by an emphasis on empathy compared to their male counterparts. The pattern is clear: Effective female leadership is not simply leadership by women, but leadership that paves its intentions with women’s strengths.

The approaches of these exceptional women leaders are distinct from their predecessors. In 1990, the Harvard Business Review reported that the first generation of women impelled to shatter the glass ceiling had to adopt an air of misogyny in their leadership style due to the pressure they felt to conform to the male leadership style that had long been the norm. Women leaders today, however, have more liberty to usher in a new form of leadership that draws from, rather than ignores, women’s socialization.

Take, for instance, Norway’s prime minister, Erna Solberg, who recently held a conference to address questions of the virus and government action just for children. Or Jacinda Ardern, who, right before New Zealand’s lockdown, streamed a Facebook live video chat, in which she sat at home in a sweatshirt, with her child’s toys scattered about.These empathetic acts contrast with the leadership of the late Margaret Thatcher, which was characterized by an autocratic style of rule over Britain. The “Iron Lady” took little input from others. “I am not a consensus politician. I’m a conviction politician,” she said.

This new style of leadership has been met with public support and respect in the face of the pandemic. 88% of New Zealand citizens approve of Prime Minister Ardern’s methods, as do 72% of German citizens under Chancellor Angela Merkel, and 76% of Taiwan citizens under President Tsai Ing-Wen. United States leadership, however, has been subject to much public distrust. President Donald Trump has a mere 44% approval rating from his citizens on his treatment of the crisis; additionally, a whopping 65% of Americans believe he did not act soon enough in reaction to news of global cases spreading.

In fact, early acknowledgement of the virus has been a notable characteristic of women’s leadership. As soon as Tsai Ing-Wen heard of Wuhan inhabitants falling ill in December, she ordered the inspection of all planes arriving from the area into her country. New Zealand shut down nearly all tourism March 19, while other nations around this time were curbing the tourism from just a few countries, and Germany began isolating and treating patients at a similar time.

These responses to the coronavirus are unsurprising given many of these women leaders’ overall attentiveness to other pressing global issues — like climate change. Katrin Jakobsdotter served as the chairwoman of the Left-Green movement before becoming Iceland’s current prime minister, Finland’s prime minister is a proponent for radical tackling of the issue, and Taiwan’s president has pushed to promote green energy.

If there is any chance of the virus’s death toll ceasing, it will look like world leaders all turning to the methods implemented by women.