America’s 2008 Best Leaders

America’s Best Leaders 2008 is a collaboration between U.S.News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. These leaders were selected by a committee of academic, government, business, and nonprofit leaders. The committee defined a leader simply as a person who "motivates people to work collaboratively to accomplish great things". Each of the selected leaders were rated by the committee members from to 1 to 5 based on how well they met the following criteria:

• Sets Direction (25 percent): By building a shared sense of purpose; by setting out to make a positive social impact; by implementing innovative strategies.
• Achieves Results (50 percent): Of significant depth and breadth; that have a positive social impact; that are sustainable; that exceed expectations.
• Cultivates a Culture of Growth (25 percent): By communicating and embodying positive core values; by inspiring others to lead.

The committee focused on the nominees recent accomplishments and that their work was global in scope with impact outside the United States. This year’s Best Leaders are as follows:

1. Lance Armstrong – Cyclist and Advocate Making tireless efforts on behalf of cancer survivors like himself.
2. David Baltimore – California Institute of Technology This Nobel-winning scientist leads with "a little bit of chutzpah."
3. Regina Benjamin – Le Batre Rural Health Clinic She believes that living in a tiny rural town shouldn’t mean giving up big-city healthcare.
4. Jeff Bezos – Amazon.com The founder of the massive online retailer is a true Internet pioneer.
5. Terence Blanchard and Herbie Hancock – Thelonious Monk Institute Their Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz brings music education to public schools.
6. Benjamin Carson – Johns Hopkins Hospital A talented pediatric neurosurgeon and activist for inner-city kids.
7. Manny Diaz – Mayor of Miami A son of Cuban immigrants, Diaz leads one of the nation’s major multicultural cities.
8. Marian Wright Edelman – Children’s Defense Fund A civil rights pioneer and crusader on behalf of children.
9. Anthony Fauci – National Institute of Allergies & Infectious Diseases A leader on HIV/AIDS and a straight talker on key health issues.
10. Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin – Knowledge Is Power Program Raising educational expectations in underserved communities.
11. Robert Gates – Secretary of Defense Pentagon chief looks for uses of "soft power" in a hard power world.
12. Fiona Harrison and Maria Zuber – NASA scientists The first two women to head their own NASA robotic space missions.
13. Freeman Hrabowski – University of Maryland-Baltimore County He helped turn a no-name commuter college into a center for math and science.
14. Amory Lovins – Rocky Mountain Institute For this bright light in the field of alternative energy, it’s all about efficiency.
15. Anne Mulcahy – Xerox In reforming a troubled company, she had the courage to say "No" to Wall Street.
16. Indra Nooyi – PepsiCo Karaoke-singing chief executive is taking Pepsi in an unlikely direction–toward healthful foods.
17. Linda Rottenberg – Endeavor Her nonprofit seeks to build profitable small businesses on a global scale.
18. Jeffrey Sachs – United Nations Millennium Project An academic who looks for real-world ways to beat global poverty.
19. Steven Spielberg – Filmmaker He addresses important issues on the big screen and through his philanthropy.
20. Michael Tilson Thomas – San Francisco Symphony A maverick maestro is winning big crowds of new classical music fans.
21. U.S. Junior Officers – Military They are rising in the military ranks with a hard-earned wisdom forged by war.

This is an interesting list of American leaders, which makes one ponder the question of “What makes someone a great leader?” and why. Is anyone missing from the list? Whom whould you have chosen?

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Tagged as: Role Models