It was never going to be because New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern is no ordinary leader and The Project’s co-host Waleed Aly is no ordinary TV host.
They are both thoughtful, empathic and intelligent and their conversation, broadcast on Channel 10 on Monday night, on the tragic massacre in Christchurch reflected exactly that.
Last week, Waleed travelled to Christchurch and sat down with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to find out how she and her country have been coping through its darkest days… #TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/AwFcSZBTyu
— The Project (@theprojecttv) March 25, 2019
It is must-watch television that highlights the power of compassion.
Not trite ‘kindness’ or even simply respect: Ardern and Aly share a willingness to understand others and a natural readiness to care.
From that starting point, the capacity for meaningful dialogue and a constructive conversation increases exponentially.
That starting point, of true compassion, is perhaps the reason Jacinda Ardern’s handling of Christchurch’s atrocity has captured attention right around the globe the way it has.
This is not a leader using talking points or weighing up ‘optics’ in managing the aftermath of a terror attack: this is a human being whose natural inclination is to understand and to care.
Imagine if that was the natural tendency of more leaders?