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Kofi Annan - His life has been one of leadership in some of the world’s greatest, most complex, and most pressing problems. Anann has shown himself to be untiring in his work to make the world a safer, healthy, and better place.
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Condé Montrose Nast - His magazines still remain hugely popular today, with Vogue and Vanity Fair leading the market in terms of reputation and content. He was a pioneer of a new era and an innovative man who altered the face of the publishing industry and started a unique empire that is still going strong today.
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Duke Ellington - The pioneering work done by him and his band changed the face of Jazz and his stalwart belief in his music led him from fame to mere subsistence to iconic heights.
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Henri Matisse - Truly a leader of ideas. What Matisse was doing was creating a canvas that reflected an emotional mood as opposed to forming faithful representations of the scenes witnessed.
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Timur - An intelligent and brilliantly tactical warrior whose ruthlessness and ambition rivalled the most revered conquerors of any age made Timur a great leader of his people
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Bayard Rustin - Rustin tirelessly worked to correct what he saw to be society’s wrongs throughout his life, never denouncing his faith in nonviolence and democracy. He was truly a values-driven leader whose story, whilst under-appreciated by many, is both remarkable and inspiring.
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Confucius - Confucius held strongly to a desire to bring Chinese civilisation to perfection, and to revive the properties of the classical Western Zhou Dynasty in order to form a ‘great, harmonious, and humanistic society’.
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Bryan Ferry - Ferry has been an influential, innovative and leading musician whose work, both solo and with Roxy Music, has proven groundbreaking - not just in musical terms but also driving a significant influence on popular culture and fashion.
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Benito Juárez - As with any political leader there is inevitable disagreement about Juárez’s legacy. However, it is hard not to see him as a ‘great liberator’ for his defeat of the French and as a revolutionary leader of change.
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John Stuart Mill - Mill was a leading thinker whose ideas and reformist activities in favour of human dignity and repect form the basis of much of Western legal systems today
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Michael Eavis - The creator and leader of what many view to be the pre-eminent music festival in Europe today, guiding it at every step to make it current, appealing, and ever more varied. Michael has also supported “good causes” throughout.
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Edward (Teddy) Kennedy - He was an effective politician, a member of the 20th Century's most well known American dynasty, and a real social leader. Kennedy always served his country and the wider world despite his many personal difficulties and tragedies.
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Joseph Kittinger II - He was a pioneer of aviation and a record setter in all he did. Little that he did in his professional, and then his later civilian life has not inspired a great deal of awe.
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Rosa Parks - Parks was a remarkable woman; her courage and conviction sparked a wave of change in Civil Rights in the USA - and led a generation in a new direction. Few can be seen to have made such a vital contribution to the alteration of the rights of so many.
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Nancy Wake - Wake was a distinguished servicewoman, proving to be a exceptional leader who, at great personal risk, dealt successfully with issues that were of the highest importance. It was very unusual for a woman to be working in one of the most dangerous arenas of the Second World War – but throughout the qualities she displayed are the hallmarks of a heroic leader in the truest sense of the definition.
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Jomo Kenyatta - Although a controversial figure to all concerned Kenyatta is a pivotal part of not only Kenyan but African history.
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Emmeline Pankhurst - Her staunch views and political awareness made her a figurehead for a very new form of woman. Despite the toll it took on her both physically and mentally, Emmeline remained true to her beliefs about women’s rights throughout her life.
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Robert McNamara - McNamara had a great impact on key events in America’s history. He made significant and impressive contributions to both business and politics. Clearly he enjoyed leading on a grand scale without compromising his beliefs, ideas, and strategies.
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Steve Jobs - Jobs is living testimony to what a series of great ideas and real personal drive can do - and where original thought and commitment can lead a company.
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George Mitchell - Mitchell’s leadership and (above all) listening skills have helped him succeed in many different areas of law and politics. He is truly an iconic and inspirational leader in globally critical peace negotiations
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Margaret Mead - Mead found that the process of "adjustment" from childhood to adulthood was neither marred by psychological distress nor by anxiety as was suggested in the United States. There was much discussion in America at this time around the emerging idea of "teenagers" - in issues of sex and relationships. Despite controversy, Mead's work was ideal to philosophically inform and indeed in some ways to encourage the "sexual revolution" of the sixties.
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Chris Hoy - Chris' attitude, dedication and inspiration of others have helped lead a wave of cycling triumphs with his team. He is clearly an exemplary leader in modern athletics.
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Rowland Hussey Macy - Macy was a major innovator in the industry, with revolutionary ideas such as fixed prices - in which items were sold at the same price to every customer (rather than be bargained for) and were advertised as such in newspapers.
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Charles E. Merrill - In 1928 Merrill became convinced that stock prices were too high and attempted to convince his clients to sell their shares, advice which President Coolidge ignored, effectively saving them from the great crash of 1929.
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Harley-Davidson - The story begins in 1903, when school friends Arthur Davidson and William S. Harley built their first commercial bike. They sold three in 1903/1904 - even before they were built, thanks to advertising and positive editorial articles. Walter C. Davidson Sr. and William A. Davidson joined the two friends and on September 17, 1907 the Harley-Davidson Motor Company was born.
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Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay - Together the pair were the first to summit Mount Everest during the 1953 British expedition led by John Hunt. The crucial moment in the last stages was the ascent of the 12m rock face (now known as "Hillary step"); Hillary saw a way to wedge himself up between the ice and the rock wall with Tenzing following. The pair reached the highest point on Earth (29, 028ft or 8,848m) at 11:30am, May 28th.
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Alan Turing - He was born on the 23rd of June 1912 in London. Turing proved to be an incredibly bright child from an early age, thriving in science and maths (much to the annoyance of Sherborne School which placed emphasis on the classics). He completed advanced problems at the age of 15 without having studied even elementary level calculus.
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Mary Wollstonecraft - She was born in London on the 27th of April 1759. Mary lived in financially difficult circumstances. Her role within the family was pivotal - she convinced her sister Eliza to run away from her husband, an early instance of Mary breaking social norms. Her most famous book "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" was published in 1792, giving her instant fame, and setting her apart as a serious thinker.
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Quanah Parker - Quanah Parker, born 1850, was the son of the Comanche Chief Puhtocnocony (Peta Nocona) and Cynthia Ann Parker who was captured in 1836 after a raid on Parker's Fort, Texas. His parents had several children together and remained living with the Comanche until his mother was recaptured in 1860. His mother couldn't readjust to life back home and frequently demanded to return to her husband. Her request was never granted and after her daughter died of illness Cynthia starved herself to death.
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Eva Duarte de Perón - Sometimes criticized as "wasteful" her devotion to the people still won their hearts. Ignoring the controversy around her that is still evident today, she fought prejudice and a male-led system to create real and lasting social change against all odds.
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F.W. de Klerk - Frederik Willem de Klerk was born on March 18th 1936 in Johannesburg, the son of Senator Jan de Klerk a leading politician. He studied law in Potchefstroom University (now North-West University), before going on to practice in the Transvaal where he helped form one of the leading law practices outside of South Africa's metropolitan areas.
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Yoko Ono - Ono has pushed boundaries and, though always a controversial figure, she has proven herself a leader in both an artistic sense and in the wider battles for peace and equality.
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Clara Barton - She was born on Christmas day in 1821 in Massachusetts. Her father had served in the Revolutionary War against the British and his stories made combat familiar to her. At age 15 she began school teaching. Later she established the first free school in New Jersey but resigned when officials appointed a male administrator as her boss (despite the fact she'd raised child enrollment in Bordentown from 6 to 600).
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John W. Gardner - John William Gardner was born in Los Angeles, California, on October 8, 1912. He graduated from Stanford in 1935 with a degree in psychology, and later received a PhD from the University of California. During World War II, he joined the Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA), where he worked on OSS personnel assessment tests and helped test and assign field agents. Gardner's public career began with his employment in 1946 as a staff member at the Carnegie Corporation, and in 1955 he became the foundation's president.
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Jimmy Wales - Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales (born in 1966, Huntsville, Alabama) is an American Internet entrepreneur best known for his role in the founding of Wikipedia. Wales' father worked as a grocery store manager while his mother, Doris, and his grandmother, Erma, ran a small private school, in the tradition of the one-room schoolhouse, where Wales received his education.
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Susan B. Anthony - She was born February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts. She was brought up in a Quaker family with long activist traditions. After teaching for fifteen years, she became active in temperance issues. Because she was a woman, she was not allowed to speak at rallies. This experience, and her acquaintance with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led her to join the women's rights movement in 1852. Soon after that she dedicated her life to women's suffrage.
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Thomas Watson - One of the world's largest computer companies, IBM, owes its original success to the vision of one man, Thomas Watson Jr. It was this man who understood that computers were the way of the future and successfully guided the company through the production of its first commercial machine.
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Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis - Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis are best known as being "The Skype Guys" but for years they've been pioneering revolutionary programs that have changed the way that the internet is used. From controversial programs like Kazaa to the creation of Altnet, the world's first secure peer to peer wholesale network.
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Estee Lauder - In 1946 Estée Lauder, a master saleswoman, and her husband Joseph started the Estée Lauder Company producing cosmetics in New York City. Now, over 60 years later, with over 20 brands under their banner and controlling around 45% of the cosmetics market, the company is synonymous with quality and beauty.
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Juan Trippe - Juan Trippe, the founder of Pan Am, is generally accredited with bringing the world into the jet age with his ambitious visions of the future. Witnessing Wilbur Wright's historic flight around the Statue of Liberty, he grew up with a fascination of flying. Eventually this led him to invest in the Aviation Company of the Americas.
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Akio Morita - He is most commonly known as the man behind Sony. Originally groomed to take over the family sake- brewing company, Morita's entrepreneurial vision has created one of the technology giants of our time. Co founding the company with Masaru Ibuka, they strived to provide consumers with products of the best quality and technology available.
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Stephen Bechtel - A giant of the American construction industry, Stephen Bechtel was 33 when he took over as CEO of the Bechtel Corporation following the death of his father. In the middle of orchestrating the Hoover Dam project, Warren Bechtel's death came at a critical time for the company. As CEO, Stephen took over and completed the project under budget and 2 years ahead of schedule.
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Henry Ford - One of the great innovators of the automotive industry and father of the assembly line, Henry Ford was born to a prosperous family on July 30th, 1863. From an early age he displayed a keen interest in mechanics and in 1879 a sixteen year old Henry went to work as an apprentice machinist in Detroit. By 1893 he was promoted to Chief Engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company, giving him the time and money to focus on his personal experiments on gasoline engines. The culmination of these experiments resulted in the Quadricycle.
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John Cadbury - These days when the Cadbury name is mentioned it is in conjunction with Cadbury-Schweppes, one of the world's largest chocolate and beverage manufacturers in the world. However, the chocolate giant we know today would not be here without the work of one man, John Cadbury.
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King Bhumibol Adulyadej - He is the world's longest reigning monarch. Born in the U.S. on the 5th of December 1927, he ascended to the throne of Thailand on the 9th of June 1946, aged 18 after the accidental shooting of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol. King Bhumibol has traveled to all corners of the country, walked its fields and talked to countless people to truly understand the heart of Thailand.
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James Keir Hardie - The story of James Keir Hardie (or Keir Hardie as he is more commonly known) is one of immense commitment and achievement. Born in North Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1856, his childhood and adolescence was characterised by severe hardship and tremendous responsibility.
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The Trung Sisters - Two of the most legendary figures in the history of Vietnam are Trung Nhi and Trung Trac (The Trung Sisters) who jointly ruled Vietnam during the first century AD.
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Alan Sugar - Love or hate him you have to admire the achievements of Alan Sugar. Born in 1947, his passion and enthusiasm has enabled him to rise above his humble beginnings in London’s East End to become one of the UK’s most successful businessmen, with an estimated net worth of £800 million.
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Benjamin Franklin - Benjamin Franklin, statesman, inventor and economist was born one of 17 children in Boston on January 17th 1706.
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Rupert Murdoch - The Chairman and CEO of News Corporation is a household name and one of the most influential media moguls of our time.
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General Omar Nelson Bradley - He was born on February 12, 1893, and despite impoverished circumstances gained entry to West Point where he excelled both academically and athletically.
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Mother Teresa - Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Yugoslavia in 1910, she took the name ‘Teresa’ when she joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns in 1928.
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Hannibal Barca - He was born in 247 BC in Carthage, North Africa. His crusade to overthrow the Romans began at the age of 9 when his homeland was forced to surrender to Rome.
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Sam Walton - The founder of Wal-Mart and giant of discount retailing grew up in Oklahoma during the depression. He was described as an industrious, ambitious boy who collected accomplishments as other boys collected toy cars.
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Malcolm X - One of the most controversial leaders of the 21st Century, he was born the son of an outspoken Baptist minister in Nebraska, USA. He grew up amid persecution, enduring his father’s murder and his mother’s committal to an institution.
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Walt Disney - Walter Elias Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse was born in December 1901 in Chicago, Illinois.
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Queen Elizabeth I - The reign of Queen Elizabeth I is often referred to as a 'Golden Age' in English history, and she is well documented as one of the most admired rulers England has ever known
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Bob Geldolf - Bob Geldolf is one of the world's most recognisable and admired men. He first came to our attention in the mid 1970's as the lead singer of The Boomtown Rats, one of the most innovative influential bands of the New Wave era.
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Rachel Elnaugh - When Rachel Elnaugh founded the company ‘Red Letter Days’ in the summer of 1989, she wasn’t just launching a business, she was creating a whole new industry offering experiences as unforgettable gifts!
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Vladimir Lenin - Lenin, born Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov in 1870, is one of the best known political figures of the 20th century. He masterminded the Bolshevik takeover of power in Russia in 1917, known as the October Revolution.
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Anne Mulcahy - She was born in October 1952 in New York and grew up in a Long Island household with four brothers. Joining Xerox in 1976 as a Sales Representative, Anne held several sales and senior management positions prior to her promotion to Chairman and Chief Executive.
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Annie Besant - She was born in London in 1847. Her marriage to a clergyman at the age of 19 was ill-fated, as her independent spirit clashed with his traditional views.
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Bono - The front man of the Irish band U2, is perhaps not initially an obvious choice for our featured leader. However, delving deeper may perhaps change your mind.
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Napoleon Bonaparte - The mere mention of Napoleon Bonaparte stirs emotions. The events of his life have fuelled the imaginations of film makers and playwrights, who have done much to expand the Napoleonic legend.
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Harry S Truman - Harry S Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, was born the eldest of three children in Missouri in 1884.
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Ernestine Louise Rose - She was born in Russian Poland in January 1810. A rebel at the age of five, she rejected the idea that women were inferior to men. Her first real battle was at the age of sixteen, when she successfully fought the Polish courts to avoid an unwanted marriage arranged by her father.
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Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - He was born in the spring of 1881 in Salonica (now in Greece). His father died when he was still a boy, and so he was raised by his mother, a devout and strong willed woman, and his sister.
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Rudy Giuliani - He was a child of Brooklyn, raised in a family of fire fighters, cops and criminals. He grew up to become one of the most effective prosecutors in the city, locking up mafia bosses, Wall Street inside traders and crooked politicians.
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Sir John Harvey-Jones - He is cited as being one of Britain's most respected business leaders. His success in dragging ICI from the depths of £200 million losses to the heady heights of billion pound profits is indeed legendary.
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Whina Cooper - She was born the daughter of a Maori chief in Northern Hokianga, New Zealand in 1895. She showed leadership qualities at a very early age and was particularly influenced by her father's roles as community leader and catechist for the Catholic Church.
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Richard Branson - As the founder of the Virgin Group has been involved in the creation of more than 200 companies. He has dealt with everything from soft drinks and holidays to aviation and music.
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Lech Walsea - His working life began in 1967, at the shipyards in Gdansk, Poland. It was during worker's protests in 1970 that he first became involved in anti- government unionism, which eventually led to his job loss.
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Wilma Mankiller - In 1945, Wilma Mankiller was born the sixth of eleven children to a poor family in Oklahoma. As part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Relocation Program, her family was moved away from their rural lifestyle to San Francisco.
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Anita Roddick - The founder of The Body Shop was born the daughter of an Italian immigrant. A hardworking campaigner since an early age, her moral outrage was 'awoken' by a book detailing the holocaust.
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Andy Grove - 1997 "Man of the Year" in Time Magazine, Harvard's "Statesman of the Year" in 1996. Currently Chairman of Intel. Born in 1936 in Budapest, Andy Grove started his career at Fairchild Semiconductor in 1963.
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Toyotomi Hideyoshi - He was born a peasant and yet became the unifier of Japan. Not much is known about Hideyoshi before 1570, and somehow about 1577 he entered the service of Oda Nobunga (who almost unified Japan).
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Alfred P. Sloan - When he was President of General Motors he led the firm into divisionalization. He created autonomous and self sufficient business units allowing for the first time real focus on individual brands to be offered to customers.
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Indira Gandhi - After spending time in prison with husband Feroze over subversion against the British, Oxford graduate Indira Gandhi set about climbing the Indian political ladder. Nehru's daughter became the fourth woman elected president of the Indian National Congress.
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Ahmed Shah Masood - Now here is a controversial leadership case ..... overshadowed by the 9/11 atrocities, the murder of Ahmed Shah Masood 2 days previously is still remembered in Afghanistan, and he is still revered in the north east.
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Alexander the Great - Conquering almost the entire known world and attempting to unite it made Alexander the Great one of the world's most successful leaders.
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Reuben Mark - An antidote to the executives with huge bonuses, he actively shuns executive celebrity, preferring that the credit should go to his employees. That rara avis, a CEO who has remained loyal to one company, he has focused the company on its core business.
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Corazon Aquino - A political widow and housewife, with no political aspirations or experience, Maria Corazon Aquino became the first female president of the Philippines in 1986
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Chris Gent - Under his control, Vodafone grew from a mid-sized British company, into the world's largest mobile operator.
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Aung San Suu Kyi - On May 30 2003, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, international symbol of peace, was taken into protective custody in Myanmar.
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Rigoberta Menshú - At first, the fight of Rigoberta Menshú for justice for the indigenous people of Guatemala went largely unnoticed.
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Margaret Thatcher - "Privatization", "Thatcherism" - new terms coined during over a decade of government by a Conservative party led by Margaret Thatcher.
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Ernest Shackleton - The story of Ernest Shackleton is one of the greatest survival stories of all time.
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Nelson Mandela - The award of the Nobel Peace Prize and becoming the first democratically elected President of South Africa, were the culmination of a long and harrowing journey for Nelson Mandela.
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Madeleine Korbel Albright - Overcoming the disadvantages of being both a woman and an immigrant, Madeleine Korbel Albright was sworn in as Secretary of State in 1996.
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Louis Gerstner - When IBM, the largest computer manufacturer, was on a dramatic decline, losing market share, and all economic importance, it was the task of Louis Gerstner to perform a miraculous turnaround.
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General George Marshall - The first professional soldier to be made Secretary of State in America.
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Julius Caesar - Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (63BC to 14AD) was the adopted son of Julius Caesar, with no official power in Rome.
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Pope John XXIII - Voted Pope in 1958, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was expected do nothing more than fill the post as a transitional Pope. He was certainly not expected to achieve anything!
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