We might ask whether the National-Act-NZ First coalition nowsets in motion an unparalleled approach to governing? If successful, it might address the major problems facing New Zealand, and ensure that Labour is unlikely to work its way back into government any time soon.
Prebble said Labour paid a high political price for recruiting “student politicians with second-class degrees in communications”.
He exaggerated slightly to make the point that Dame Jacinda Ardern epitomised a Prime Minister who assiduously designed and continuously communicated her political “image management” capabilities.
To understand the nature and scale of her skills, Google search: “Images of Jacinda Ardern 2017-2023″.
To assess her skills, start by looking for images that project: “An innovative leader at the helm of a prosperous economy”. Are there any political leadership image skills she particularly emphasised?
Various theories underpin her approach. One is that as we navigate through our lives, we generally allow ourselves to be guided by impressions and feelings, and our confidence in these intuitive beliefs is usually justified... until it isn’t.
During 2020-21, Ardern and Dr Ashley Bloomfield spent months on the “Podium of Truth”, one of Labour’s most potent online “image management” endeavours, and an example of continuous political campaigning.
Over time, critics began arguing that her announcements had less to do with policy issues and more to do with “virtue signalling”.
Jane Clifton, The Listener’s political columnist (December 25, 2021) said: “The daily ‘sermon on the mount’ TV talks of folksy reassurance that once stoked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s popularity to historic levels now sound to some voters more like instructions to pre-toilet-trained puppies.”
When Auckland was locked down in the latter part of 2021, Ardern made her first visit back after three months away. She said: “As soon as measures lifted, I found the first available time to come home... Tāmaki Makaurau is my home.” Two years later, the election results illustrated that many voters were not convinced.
Labour may have chosen both the wrong leader to replace Ardern, and his election strategy. Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins began a “loss-aversion” election campaign. In it, his fear of losing, as shown by his constant disparagement of Luxon and National, may have had a greater impact on subsequent voters’ behaviour than his arguments being made for wanting to win.
Prebble (NZ Herald, August 16) said: “Every election is a credibility contest about who can best manage the economy.”
He advised that Luxon “must make the campaign about who has the better economic credibility, where he cannot lose”.
Now Luxon has revealed his prime ministerial decisions, we can ask: “Might he succeed?”
Doubters believe a prime minister with much commercial but little political experience will find their new political leadership tasks are beyond their capabilities.
This is not necessarily so, especially if aspects of commercial leadership might be associated with political leadership.
McKinsey & Company (November 16, 2023) finds the most effective CEOs adhere to 18 key areas of the job. Quotes from several of them illustrate what applies to commercial leadership might also apply to political leadership:
“The CEO is the person ultimately responsible for the success of a company. Their job is to develop strategy and deploy the resources to deliver on it.”
“The best CEOs spend time thinking about, articulating, and championing the purpose of their company as it relates to the big-picture outcomes of day-to-day business practices.”
“Make bold moves early. Making one or two bold moves more than doubles the likelihood of rising from the middle quintiles of economic profit to the top quintile.”
“Companies that reallocate more than 50 per cent of their capital expenditure among business units over 10 years create 50 per cent more value than companies that reallocate less activity.”
“CEOs who insist on rigorously measuring and managing all cultural elements that drive performance more than double the odds that their strategies will be executed.”
“Successful CEOs quickly adjust team composition, which can involve making hard calls to remove likeable low performers and disagreeable high performers.”
Richard Brookes.
“The best CEOs form a small group of trusted colleagues to provide unfiltered advice — including the kind that sometimes hasn’t even been asked for.”
How well did Ardern and Hipkins perform on these imperatives? An editorial in The Australian (January 20, 2023), said: “Ardern led from the heart, not head - to NZ’s great cost.” Where might Hipkins now lead from?
Luxon will probably be monitoring his progress on political leadership imperatives similar to the familiar commercial ones above. That’s why we might say they’ll illustrate his entry into a “brave new world”.
Richard Brookes is a retired associate professor in marketing from the University of Auckland.
