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riversedge

(70,239 posts)
Tue Apr 14, 2020, 01:42 PM Apr 2020

What Do Countries With The Best #Coronavirus Responses Have In Common? Women Leaders




2,603,399 views|Apr 13, 2020,08:27am EDT

What Do Countries With The Best Coronavirus Responses Have In Common? Women Leaders

https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/#56018a53dec4

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox


Seven countries' female leaders effectively managing the coronavirus crisis

Political Leaders Showing the Way 20-first

Looking for examples of true leadership in a crisis? From Iceland to Taiwan and from Germany to New Zealand, women are stepping up to show the world how to manage a messy patch for our human family. Add in Finland, Iceland and Denmark, and this pandemic is revealing that women have what it takes when the heat rises in our Houses of State. Many will say these are small countries, or islands, or other exceptions. But Germany is large and leading, and the UK is an island with very different outcomes. These leaders are gifting us an attractive alternative way of wielding power. What are they teaching us?
Truth

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Norway’s Prime Minister, Erna Solberg, had the innovative idea of using television to talk directly to her country’s children. She was building on the short, 3-minute press conference that Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had held a couple of days earlier. Solberg held a dedicated press conference where no adults were allowed. She responded to kids’ questions from across the country, taking time to explain why it was OK to feel scared. The originality and obviousness of the idea takes one’s breath away. How many other simple, humane innovations would more female leadership unleash?

Generally, the empathy and care which all of these female leaders have communicated seems to come from an alternate universe than the one we have gotten used to. It’s like their arms are coming out of their videos to hold you close in a heart-felt and loving embrace. Who knew leaders could sound like this? Now we do.

Now, compare these leaders and stories with the strongmen using the crisis to accelerate a terrifying trifecta of authoritarianism: blame-“others”, capture-the-judiciary, demonize-the-journalists, and blanket their country in I-will-never-retire darkness (Trump, Bolsonaro, Obrador, Modi, Duterte, Orban, Putin, Netanyahu…).

There have been years of research timidly suggesting that women’s leadership styles might be different and beneficial. Instead, too many political organisations and companies are still working to get women to behave more like men if they want to lead or succeed. Yet these national leaders are case study sightings of the seven leadership traits men may want to learn from women.

It’s time we recognised it – and elected more of it.


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What Do Countries With The Best #Coronavirus Responses Have In Common? Women Leaders (Original Post) riversedge Apr 2020 OP
The USA should have been on that list! Ohiogal Apr 2020 #1
Highly recommend. Hillary would have been unrelenting at any GOP opposition to advanced readiness BeckyDem Apr 2020 #2

BeckyDem

(8,361 posts)
2. Highly recommend. Hillary would have been unrelenting at any GOP opposition to advanced readiness
Tue Apr 14, 2020, 04:38 PM
Apr 2020

and response.

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