By the way, Jacinda Ardern has been living in the U.S. since she left office two years ago. She is serving as a fellow at Harvard University and has written a new book, A Different Kind of Power (Ardern, 2025). Without my coaching assistance, Jacinda seems to have reflected on her own leadership in New Zealand. She has recently said, “I think, you know, there are different ways to lead. But I hope you also see that some of those character traits that we perhaps bring to it that we might believe to be weaknesses – imposter syndrome, or even empathy – actually are incredible strengths.”
Ardern says her story is about finding her voice in New Zealand, a small nation of about five million people. “I never, ever saw myself becoming prime minister, ever,” she said. Yet, it is in this role that Jacinda Ardern learned important lessons about herself. It is not often easy to learn about ourselves in a challenging postmodern world. Sometimes, as a professional coach, I can assist leaders who are trying to discover something about themselves. Jacinda apparently found a way to gain these insights about herself with or without a coach. Perhaps Harvard has provided her with the environment in which she can best “learn into the future” (Scharmer, 2009), best “lean into the future” (Bergquist and Mura, 2011) – and perhaps lead again in her future.
Conclusions
Jacinda Ardern is not alone in seeking to make sense of a VUCA-Plus world. She is joined by many of us who wish to find an environment that is more stable, certain, simple, clear, calm, and consistent. We are particularly inclined to look for such an environment when engaged in economic behavior. A professional coach can be helpful in this regard, as they might have been helpful with Kurt Seto, Susan Telluride and Jacinda Ardern. In the next essay in this series, I turn specifically to the conditions of VUCA-Plus, trace out some of the economic implications associated with each of the six conditions, and consider ways in which a professional coach might provide some guidance or at least some empathetic support for us as we live, work and make economic decisions in a world of swirling alternative realities.
___________________________
References
Ardern, Jacinda (2025) A Different Kind of Power. New York: Crown Publishers.
Argyris, Chris and Donald Schön, (1974) Theory in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bergquist, William (1993) The Postmodern Organization. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bergquist, William (2025) The New (Ad)Normal. Harpswell, Maine: Atlantic Soundings Press.
Bergquist, William and Agnes Mura (2011) coachbook: A Guide to Organizational Coaching Strategies and Practices. Harpswell, Maine: Pacific Soundings Press.
Bergquist, William, Jeannine Sandstrom and Agnes Mura (2023) The Ark of Leadership: An Integrative Perspective. Harpswell, ME: Atlantic Soundings Press.
Download Article
