Personality, Diversity, And Leadership: Analyzing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Organization Behavior and Personality

Organization behavior is a significant practice of any organization that refers to the study of people’s behavior in organization, the interface between organization and human behavior. It indicates how the people respond to different situations in organization and adapt workplace changes (Greenberg 2014, pp. 28). Personality plays a vital role in acting at workplace and practicing the roles on specific positions. New Zealand is the country that holds a higher rank in the list of international comparisons of performance of different nations in terms of health, living standard, economic liberty and education. Due to this fact, a popular personality from New Zealand i.e. Jacinda Ardern is selected for the report.

Jacinda Ardern, full name Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is very popular and strong New Zealand politician who is serving her nation as 40^th Prime Minister from October 26, 2017. She was born in Hamilton in New Zealand on 26 July 1980 and she was grown up in rural areas. She has completed her graduation from Waikato University in the discipline of communication studies in public relations and politics. After that, she did work as an assistant director in Department for Enterprise and Business. She started her political career as a researcher in the office of Helen Clark (Prime Minister) (Sandberg 2018). In 2008, she was selected as the President of International Union of Socialist Youth.

Apart from becoming the prime minister of the country, she holds the designation of National Security and Intelligence, Heritage and Culture. She is able to defend the children and this issue is very close to her heart. Along with being the youngest PM of New Zealand, she is world’s 2^nd elected government head to give birth while serving the office (Lester, 2018).

Big 5 Personality Traits Theory

Personality of an individual has a significant role in his personal and organizational life as well. It is defined by applying Big 5 Personality Trait Theory. This theory gives the insights to understand other people, enhancing the relationships by knowing why they behave the manner they do. This theory gives five dimensions that showcase the personality of a human being and illuminate their differences (Keyes et al 2015). These five factors are such as Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. These domains are used to analyze the overall personality of an individual. Five personality traits are discussed below:

Extraversion:

This dimension refers to the extent of comfort in an individual while communicating with other people. There are two types of people i.e. introverts and extroverts. Extraverts get zeal by interacting with others while introverts get energy from themselves. Main personality traits of extraverts are like energetic, assertive and talkative (Lievens et al, 2018, pp. 755).

New Zealand Ranking and Political System

Openness:

Openness refers to the willingness of a person to try new and innovative things. In a human personality, this trait is obligation for art, adventure, emotion, curiosity and experience. It makes the differences between conventional and imaginative population.

Agreeableness

Agreeableness refers to the way an individual connects with other people. This personality trait in the people showcases their cooperativeness, empathetic and friendly nature (Arnold et al, 2015, pp. 481).

Conscientiousness

This domain refers to the way how an individual gets something done. It shows the extent to which a person demonstrates constant and reliable behavior in the organization. The major identifications of this personality trait are organized and thorough.

Neuroticism

It refers to the ability of an individual to stay balanced and stable. The people with higher neuroticism tend to face a lot of worries and anxiety about the things.

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions of Cultural Differences

The cultural dimensions of Hofstede establish a framework turning around the cross cultural communication. This theory is introduced by Geert Hofstede. Collectively, these dimensions show the effect of culture rooted in the society on the members’ value in the society. When any organization plans to spread its business in other markets, it is necessary to evaluate the cultural factors and diversity on international market. This framework includes five dimensions that can impact the motivation and attitudes of people on different levels (Bakir, et al, 2015, pp. 227). Five dimensions of Hofstede Framework are described below:

Power Distance:

This dimension refers to the inequality measurement which presents and adapted by the population without and with the power.

Individualism:

The emphasis of this practice is on the question related to whether the population has the preference for becoming alone to care themselves. It indicates the extent to which people in a society are combined in the groups (Saleem 2015, pp. 565).

Masculinity:

Under this cultural theory, masculinity implies the preference of community for attainment, heroism, assertiveness and reward for getting success. Generally, it shows how much the society’s people obey the roles of males and females.

Uncertainty Avoidance:

This dimension refers to the level to which population of a country is not at ease with the uncertainty and ambiguity. Basically, it showcases the level of worries that community people experience when they confront any uncertain situation.

Short Term Orientation:

It pertains to those communities which are inclined to constitution of absolute truth. It establishes link of past with the future and current threats (Van Knippenberg & Hogg 2018, pp. 76).

Big 5 Personality Traits Theory

Analysis

Big 5 Personality Traits of Jacinda Ardern

Considering that how personality traits of the political leaders are relevant to their office may give an analysis of the concepts about how personality traits are connected with the effectiveness of their real life. As discussed in general introduction, Big Five personality traits theory gives five personality traits that a political leader like Jacinda Ardern should possess so that she can serve New Zealand country (Keyes 2015).

Big five personality traits of Jacinda Ardern are evaluated and discussed below:

Extraversion

Extraversion is a significant dimension of the personality trait theory. As mentioned above, the population with higher extraversion is talkative and social. It indicates that extravert people are very interactive in nature. They can put their opinions and thoughts very easily to other individuals. For Jacinda Ardern, the score of extraversion is very high as she is very interactive and social democratic. She is higher on this dimension as she explored various places to meet common population and she visited street festival where Jacinda walked on the road with the common people.

Moreover, she is very much expressive to show her feelings and views against social problems such as homelessness in the country, same-sex marriage and legalization of cannabis etc. Being a PM of New Zealand and labor party leader, Jacinda is working for the social justice issues which are relevant to arts, culture, women, children etc. Thus, it is clear to state that Jacinda Ardern has higher score on this domain and she is a strong leader who is taking initiatives to improve and develop the conditions of country and its people (Wihler, et al 2017, pp. 135).

Agreeableness

This is the second dimension which evaluates how people are comfortable with other people. The score of this domain is moderate for Jacinda Ardern because she is empathetic and kind to others. When she came in the office of New Zealand, she announced that government will be powerful, compassionate and emphasized on society and country (Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2017, pp. 201). The level of this dimension is moderate because she denied becoming the leader of Labor Party in the beginning. Additionally, she wishes to change the laws and regulations related to abortion that is accepted by several leaders. In the country, she has committed to reduce the poverty and improve the vulnerable people’s life. Thus, it showcases that Jacinda values the lives of people in her country (Miner, 2015, pp. 125).

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions of Cultural Differences

Openness

Under this theory, this personality trait shows the cooperativeness and creativity of people. It assists the individuals to get creative solutions for the problems. In the dimension of openness, the score of Jacinda Ardern is high because she is from very simple family. This is because of her openness to new experiences and ideas that she is always open in her regulations and policies.

is very enthusiastic to adapt innovative and new ideas to get effective solutions to social problems in New Zealand. In her duration, she is very much focused on different issues of society that are regarded as orthodox. For instance, Jacinda Ardern has introduced the member bills on the rights of gay pairs. Additionally, she is taking initiatives to eliminate the child poverty and implementing policies for child labor. In this way, Jacinda Ardern presents higher level of openness to resolve social issues in her nation (Northouse 2018, pp. 85).

Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness refers to the qualities of individuals which show how the people look at other people and different situations. Jacinda Ardern is moderate at this domain as she runs her government being a social democrat and aggressive leader in New Zealand. She takes the decisions looking at different situations and their impacts on related people. In her political role, she focuses on implementing changes in community.

It is moderate because she failed to handle some circumstances. There are some specific incidents that indicate that she was not ready and organized in situations. For example, she was not prepared on the first day of her parliament. Personality traits of Jacinda Ardern show that she is inspired by her beliefs. Population of the country trusts Jacina Ardern and they feel that their prime minister thinks about them and listens to them. It indicates that New Zealand’s prime minister has effective leadership skills to manage nation and the people of society (Smyth 2018).

Neuroticism

Neuroticism is also an important trait of human personality. The person with this trait experiences negative emotions like anxiety, depression and anger. For Jacinda, score of this domain is moderate because she has handled each and every situation very smoothly. Her way of communication has emotional warmness with a smiling face and gestures which reflect her wish to communicate with common people (Murray 2017, pp. 155).

She is very calm and emotionally stable that poses several times when she answers to the reporters and when she was with her rivals. While serving the political office in New Zealand, she told that she is expected her first baby in June 2018. In the pregnancy condition, Jacinda worked for her nation and its people. She was on the maternity leave of 6 months only after the birth of baby. It clearly shows that Jacinda possesses a personality that is emotionally stable and cool. She handled all the situations very calmly.

In this way, it is analyzed from the above personality traits that she is an inspirational and strong political leader. She has better personality traits which can be profitable for social and economic development of New Zealand. About Jacinda, it can be stated that she holds a personality that will assist New Zealanders to overcome their social problems.  

Effect of Cultural Diversity on Ability of Leader (Hofstede’s five dimensions)

Under Hofstede model, there are five dimensions of cultural differences that can be practiced to analyze the effect of cultural and other types of diversity on leadership approach of New Zealand’s prime minister  i.e. Jacinda Ardern. Hofstede dimensions can affect the international attitudes, perceptions, motivation and satisfaction (Hofstede Insights 2018). By using the cultural dimensions of Hofstede, the effects of diversity on leadership abilities of Jacinda are described below: 

Power Distance

Power distance is the first dimension of Hofstede cultural framework that demonstrates the fact that all the communities in any country are treated equally. This indicates the attitude of culture towards inequality among society people. In the country of Jacinda Ardern i.e. New Zealand, inequality rate is higher than other developing nations. There is an emerging issue of poverty and gap between rich and poor people. As per the above diagram, the score of this index is 22 that are comparatively low. The reason behind this is the fact that level of child poverty has been increased twice in past 30 years. In country’s society, this disparity is endorsed by the people of society, government and leaders. In the New Zealand, Maori community and Pacific people have lesser income, poorer housing and deprived health than other people (Baker, 2014).

In the politics, this inequality among society people allows the rich people to affect the political leaders as they are dependent on them for subsidies and donations. It indicates that some people have more rights and access than others. In New Zealand, this fact affected the approach of Jacinda Ardern. She is facing various threats in the decision making related to society benefits.

This has a huge effect on her democratic leadership approach because she has to place inequality on the top. Looking at the inequality of income, the prime minister will need to motivate her policy developers to think about the bottom 40 percent population of the country. In the future, she needs to emphasize on the benefits and taxes because these two components are the best ways to reallocate people’s income. Thus, due to this income diversity in nation, she has to take decisions for the country’s different societies (Hofstede Insights 2018).

Individualism

Individualism refers to the fundamental issue i.e. the level of interdependence that a society develops among its people. The above graph indicates that the score is 79 which show that this nation has a culture with individualism. It is to state that society’s people take care of themselves only and them families. It assists the people to produce their potential but it can abuse country’s wealth. It is the major reason behind the inequality and diversity in New Zealand. The impact of individualism is moderate on the leadership approach of Jacinda (Gelfand, et al 2017, pp. 514). Considering the level of individualism in New Zealand, PM has to create and implement new policies so that government can serve all the communities. Moreover, this is worthy for her government that employees are taking different initiatives and working becoming self-dependent.

Masculinity

This is the third dimension of Hofstede cultural framework in which higher figure indicates that community is driven by the success, competition and attainment. In the case of masculine societies, women are assertive and competitive but not more than men. It shows the diversity aspect between women and men. Under this, New Zealand’s score is 58, so it is a masculine community. The above score appears the gap between the value of women and men in society. In her nation, Jacinda is promoting female groups by becoming a powerful leader. The diversity among men and women has progressive effect on Jacinda‘s leadership style and abilities. In addition to this, she has to generate more job opportunities for women. Gender diversity will motivate the administration to develop regulations and laws for female society (Hofstede Insights 2018).

Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance refers that how the community people can manage the issues in most appropriate manner (Ross 2018, pp. 2). For New Zealand, its score is 49 which are intermediate. This shows the logical level of acceptance for creative ideas and opinions. The population in this nation is not interested in laws and regulation so PM has to change her approach. It will help her to overcome the issues of inequality and diversity.

Short Term Orientation

Under Hofstede Framework, orientation is relevant to the connection of past and future and today’s threats. In the orientation, New Zealand’s index is 33 which show that this country is a normative country. People of communities are concerned with establishing an absolute truth. Country’s population demonstrates admiration and respect to old traditions. Additionally, they are very much emphasized on rapid results (Kelsey 2015, pp. 86). Also, this will affect the Jacinda’s approach because it will impact on economic growth of the nation. She requires motivating the New Zealanders with the customs and traditions. It will support the nation to get long term orientation and to develop economic conditions.

Thus, it is identified that cultural differences of Hofstede dimensions will have significant effect on the behavioral and leadership style of Jacinda. New Zealand’s culture is diverse so it is crucial for Jacinda to adopt policies and regulations in order to develop equality. It will help the government to resolve the issues of inequality and diversity. As a prime minister of country, Jacinda Ardern should change in its decision making process and leadership approach by analyzing the needs of country’s people (Kelsey 2015, pp. 75).

Recommendations

However, Jacinda Ardern is leading New Zealand by using effective leadership skills and approaches, but still there is scope of improvement that can help her to lead the country more effectively. It is suggested that a political leader should develop his/her personality traits considering the needs and conditions of community’s people. This report states about the personality traits and leadership style of Jacinda in New Zealand.

It is very important for PM to focus on the issues of diversity and inequality in country. She should understand that Maori people are the weakest community (Henry 2017, pp. 28). She should efforts to improve their situation and provide the rights to use every entitlement. In the coming years of her office, she should implement the policies to overcome different issues. Her decisions should be focused on the benefits of society and its people. In addition to this, she needs to develop her personality so that people like her. These recommendations will help Jacinda to overall development of New Zealand and its people.

Conclusion

In the limelight of above discussion, it is concluded that Jacinda Ardern is a strong political leader who is able to lead the country with diversity. As a youngest PM New Zealand country, she is taking different initiatives so that she can enhance the economic, political and social environments of the country. The above report covers the background about the chosen leader i.e. Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand. About her, this report shows that Jacinda is social democratic, inspirational, empathetic and hard-working leader.

Different personality traits of the leader are analyzed in the report. Big five personality trait theory states that Jacinda is an extravert leader because she likes to explore different places and meet common people. From the personality analysis, it is identified that Jacinda holds a good personality that a prime minister should possess. The country has very diverse culture so government should take some initiatives to develop country’s social conditions.

References   

Arnold, KA Connelly, CE Walsh, MM & Martin Ginis, KA 2015, Leadership styles, emotion regulation, and burnout, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(4), p.481.

Baker, L 2014, NZ gap between rich and poor growing, viewed 31 August 2018 

Bakir, A, Blodgett, JG, Vitell, SJ & Rose, GM 2015, A preliminary investigation of the reliability and validity of Hofstede’s cross cultural dimensions. In Proceedings of the 2000 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 226-232). Springer, Cham.

Gelfand, MJ Aycan, Z Erez, M & Leung, K 2017, Cross-cultural industrial organizational psychology and organizational behavior: A hundred-year journey, Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), pp.514.

Greenberg, J 2014, Behavior in Organizations: Global Edition, Pearson Higher Ed., US.

Henry, E 2017, The creative spirit: emancipatory M?ori entrepreneurship in screen production in New Zealand, Small Enterprise Research, 24(1), pp.23-35.

Hofstede Insights 2018, What About New Zealand? viewed 31 August 2018 

Kelsey, J 2015, Reclaiming the future: New Zealand and the global economy, Bridget Williams Books.

Kelsey, J 2015, The New Zealand experiment: A world model for structural adjustment?, Bridget Williams Books.

Keyes, CL, Kendler, KS, Myers, JM & Martin, CC 2015, The genetic overlap and distinctiveness of flourishing and the big five personality traits, Journal of Happiness Studies, 16(3), pp.655-668.

Lievens, F Lang, JW De Fruyt, F Corstjens, J, Van de Vijver & Bledow, R 2018, The predictive power of people’s intraindividual variability across situations: Implementing whole trait theory in assessment, Journal of Applied Psychology, 103 (7) pp. 753-771.

Lester, A 2018 New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, Is Young, Forward-Looking, and Unabashedly Liberal—Call Her the Anti-Trump, viewed 31 August 2018

Miner, JB 2015, Organizational behavior 1: Essential theories of motivation and leadership, Routledge, UK.

Murray, G 2017, Capitalist networks and social power in Australia and New Zealand, Routledge, UK.

Northouse, PG 2018, Leadership: Theory and practice, Sage publications, US.

Ross, K 2018, Jacinda Ardern-ready for global diplomacy?. New Zealand International Review, 43(2), 2.

Saleem, H 2015, The impact of leadership styles on job satisfaction and mediating role of perceived organizational politics, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 172, pp.563-569.

Sandberg, S 2018 Jacinda Ardern, viewed 31 August 2018

Smyth, J 2018 Jacinda Ardern: ‘we should not expect women to be superwomen, viewed 31 August 2018 

Van Knippenberg, D & Hogg, MA 2018, Social identifications in organizational behavior, The self at work: Fundamental theory and research, pp.72-90.

Wihler, A Meurs, JA Wiesmann, D Troll, L & Blickle, G 2017, Extraversion and adaptive performance: integrating trait activation and socioanalytic personality theories at work, Personality and Individual Differences, 116, pp.133-138.

Yahaya, R & Ebrahim, F 2016, Leadership styles and organizational commitment: literature review, Journal of Management Development, 35(2), pp.190-216.