Waiting To Be Noticed

March 15, 2019. Fifty-one people dead in Christchurch. New Zealand's worst terrorist attack.

As the Prime Minister faced cameras that day, she could have spoken of hatred, division, failure. Instead, she chose different words. She spoke of the first responders who ran toward danger. The Muslim community's strength. The country's unity in grief.

Later, reflecting on her leadership philosophy, she would say: "Kindness costs nothing, but it means everything."

Throughout her tenure, crisis after crisis tested this approach. White Island's volcanic eruption. The world's strictest COVID lockdowns. International criticism. Economic uncertainty. Each disaster threatened to drown her in what wasn't working, what couldn't be controlled.

Yet she consistently chose to highlight what remained good.