Indian business honchos Anand Mahindra and Lakshmi Mittal are among the world’s 50 greatest leaders, according to Fortune magazine.
The list of leaders, which includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama and Pope Francis, through their leadership are “energising” their followers and making the world better, it said.
Pope tops list “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders list out today is topped by the 77-year old Pope, who has in just over a year electrified the church and attracted legions of non-Catholic admirers by energetically setting a new direction.
“In an era that feels starved for leadership, we’ve found men and women who will inspire you — some famous, others little known, all of them energising their followers and making the world better,” Fortune said.
The Pope, who has washed the feet of a female Muslim prisoner, created a group of eight cardinals to advise him on reform, which a church historian calls the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries.”
On the 40th spot is Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra and Mahindra group.
“A third-generation corporate aristocrat, Mr. Mahindra has aggressively expanded the big conglomerate through acquisitions in autos, computer services, aeronautics, and more, while maintaining the company’s standing as one of India’s most sought-after employers.
The company remains well regarded in Indian society as he has reinforced a policy of integrity in a notoriously corrupt environment,” Fortune said of the 58-year old business leader.
Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal secured the 48th rank. The CEO of ArcelorMittal created the world’s largest steelmaker by “pursuing a decades-long, impossibly audacious plan of consolidation — working with governments, powerful labour unions, and other constituencies to rewrite the rules of the old steel industry in tough times.”
The list features Indian-origin engineer Arati Prabhakar, 55 who heads the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
“Running the military’s technology innovation lab in the middle of the austerity era is no easy task. But Prabhakar, who first led a major federal office when she was only 34 and later spent time as a venture capitalist, is meeting the challenge with an outsider’s enthusiasm,” Fortune said of Prabhakar, who is ranked 45th.
Malala gets a place The list includes German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, actress Angelina Jolie, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai.
On Suu Kyi, Fortune said the Nobel Peace Prize winner gave up freedom and a life with her family in Britain to protest military rule in Myanmar.
“But nearly two decades of house arrest could not quash the opposition leader’s determination. Since Suu Kyi’s 2010 release, her political party has clinched dozens of seats in Parliament. Current law bars a presidential run in 2015; even that may change before long,” Fortune said.
