CNN

CNN recently published the list for world’s “50 Great Leaders”, highlighting the top 50 inspirational figures from all walks of life.

Our world has witnessed many great leaders over the years, yet there are just a few who are well-remembered globally. These few are no different from others, but the only point of differentiation is “who tries to play his part” and “who plays the blame game”.


At the top of the list is Pope Francis, who leads a population of 1.2 billion Roman Catholics all around the world. Pope Francis, in his late 70’s now, was crowned as the pope for Catholic Church last year; since then he has made his name even amongst many non-Catholics around the world.

Angelina Jolie, the famous Hollywood actress who also made it to the list on 21st rank has been associated with UN since 2000. Angelina started to play her role as humanitarian, serving many as she travels from country to country while visiting places like Syria, Iraq and Pakistan.

U.K’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague who has also worked with Jolie during her humanitarian efforts, admires her in these words:

“Angelina Jolie represents a new type of leadership in the 21st century”

As the list goes on, we spot the brave Pakistani youth icon Malala Yousafzai on 34th rank. The young lady, 16 at present, is one of the youngest leaders in the world.

5 years ago, Malala stood up against the fearsome Talibans and suffered a bullet head injury. Since then, there has been no stopping her. This bold young lady has become a symbolic icon of inspiration for many around the world, bringing them hope and desire for education.

As we continue to progress down, we come across a well-deserved name at 40th rank, i.e. of Anand Mahindra, the owner of Mahindra & Mahindra group, who operates in one of the most heavily populated and corrupted countries of the world, i.e. India.

The Corporate world of India is ruled by only a handful of affluent families is a very tough place for honest people to be in. Mahindra has not only established Mahindra & Mahindra group fairly within this corruption but he has also integrated honesty to the deepest roots of his company.

An act that has taken 58 years of his life to get accomplished to the point at which Mahindra & Mahindra group stands today.

A complete list of these 50 greatest people by CNN can be found below:

1. Pope Francis

2. Angela Markel

3. Alan Mulally

4. Warren Buffett

5. Bill Clinton

6. Aung San Suu Kyi

7. Gen. Joe Dunford

8. Bono

9. Dalai Lama

10. Jeff Bezos

11. Derek Jeter

12. Geoffrey Canada

13. Christine Lagarde

14. Paul Polman

15. Michael Bloomberg

16. Jack Ma

17. Maria Klawe

18. Ken Chenault

19. Kathy Giusti

20. It’s a Tie: Mike Krzyzewski, Gregg Popovich, Dawn Staley

21. Angelina Jolie

22. Zhang Ruimin

23. Carlos Ghosn

24. Gabrielle Giffords

25. Wendy Kopp

26. Fred Smith

27. Juliet V. Garcia

28. Mary Robinson

29. Howard Schultz

30. Jose Antonio Abreu

31. Ellen Kullman

32. Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

33. Tim Cook

34. Malala Yousafzai

35. Strive Masiyiwa

36. George Kennedy

37. Joko Widodo

38. Eric Greitens

39. Wynton Marsalis

40. Anand Mahindra

41. Nancy Lublin

42. Susan Wojcicki

43. Peter Diamandis

44. Tetiana Chornovol

45. Arati Prabhakar

46. Xavier Trias

47. Juliana Rotich

48. Lakshmi Mittal

49. Gail Kelly

50. Jed Rakoff

All these leaders have achieved many great things in their lives and irrespective of their cast, creed or color they all deserve one thing, i.e. “RESPECT”.