These days, in his local cafe near Boston, Jacinda Ardern can just be another customer. “I don’t put my name on the order; it’s too complicated!” She laughed.
I asked: “When you order coffee here, do people start talking about politics with you?”
“No. Not at all,” replied Ardern. “In fact, the guy behind the counter said to me:” Ah, you’re really familiar. Oh, I know: Toni Collette! “”
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This is a moment that would never arrive in New Zealand, when Ardern became the youngest head of government in the world when she was only 37 years old. Now 44 years old, former Prime Minister Ardern has lived in the United States since she left her duties two years ago. She is a member of Harvard University and wrote a new book, “Another type of power” (To be published on June 3 by Crown).
From the title, she says: “I think, you know, there are different ways of directing. But I hope you also see that some of these character traits that we may bring that we could believe that we could be weaknesses – sham syndrome, even empathy – are in fact incredible strength.”
Ardern says that his story is to find his voice in New Zealand, a small nation of around five million people. “I have never been a Prime Minister, never,” she said.
In fact, her father told Ardern that she was too “thin” for politics.
Was he right? “He was absolutely right!” She laughed. “But I guess I corrected it, your sensitivity is your empathy. And kindness, don’t we need a little more?”
Crown 
In New Zealand, the answer was yes. Before the 2017 elections, Ardern suddenly became the leader of the leftist Labor Party of his country. Weeks after winning, she made an ad: She was pregnant. His trip, alongside her then partner, now Mari, Clarke, quickly won her world attention.
Was it comfortable with the symbolism of its role? Ardern said: “I realized the importance of this when I received a letter from someone on the way to work to tell their boss that he had a baby, and they felt nervous about the vision of their boss to know if they could do their job when she had heard that I was pregnant, and that gave her a level of confidence, you know, I also felt And be a mother. “”
But these first joyful days were followed by challenges. In 2019, Mass shots targeting Muslims in Christchurch left more than 50 dead – a crucible for New Zealand and a call for action for its chief: A ban on semi-automatic weapons.
I asked: “Why do you believe that you and your colleagues in New Zealand were able to carry out a reform of the control of firearms following a horrible mass shooting, but so often here in the United States, such legislative changes have been difficult to obtain?”
“I cannot speak to the American experience,” replied Ardern, “but if we really wanted to say:” We never want it to happen again “, we had to demonstrate what we were doing to make it a reality.”
But even after winning another election, things were not easy. As the pandemic advanced, tensions have evolved on the co -virtual policies of its government. In 2023, when she amazed a lot by deciding to resign, She was carrying her heart on her sleeveSaying in Parliament: “You can be a nerd, a shout, a hug, you can be all these things, and not only you can be here, you can direct, just like me.”
Although she left her duties, she has not stopped closely monitoring our turbulent links. Asked what she was doing by President Trump and his decisions on trade and foreign policy, Ardern said: “You know, we see people experience deep financial insecurity, and this must be addressed by political leaders. But I continue to hold these ideas of isolation or protectionism or to close to remedy the problem actually really doesn’t Long -term remedy and has a long -term negative impact for some of the collective problems that we must tackle as a global community. “”
For the moment, Ardern does not fish to return to politics, but she settles in her new standard-that is to say “to be just a normal family”.
And when they are asked for advice – in a classroom in Harvard, or a world leader – Jacinda Ardern tells them to be kind: “This principle of kindness is something that we teach our children. Why should we not entrust the model of what we do, it is a reminder, in fact, in fact being in politics is a public service too.”
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History produced by Sara Kugel. Publisher: Joseph Fundino.