greatest leaders in world

While her day job is helming a London firm managing $55 billion in assets, Morrissey is also leading the 30% Club, a campaign to make public company boards in the U.K. 30% female. By convincing (mostly male) chairmen that diverse boards produce superior shareholder returns, the charismatic mother of nine has made progress at home FTSE 100 boards are 24% female, vs. 13% in 2010. Shes now bringing her quest to the U.S., where board diversity has further to go.

She has been called one of the bravest lawyers in Africa and for good reason. Mtetwa, who was recognized by the U.S. State Department as one of 10 international women of courage last year and who was the subject of the 2013 documentary Rule of Law, has never wavered in her defense of human rights and basic freedoms in her native Zimbabwe. Despite beatings, arrests, and endless threats, she continues to fight for the rule of law.

From electric vehicles to space travel, Musk has taken on some of the greatest technological challenges of our time. But what transforms him from mad inventor to visionary leader is his ability to convince the world of the viability of his projects, even ideas like a tube based transit system called the Hyper loop. His electric car maker, Tesla Motors, produces a world class automobile, but so far nothing for the masses nor an annual profit. Does it matter? No. Well wait.

Elected as Surabayas mayor in 2010, Rismaharini has transformed her city of 2.7 million people into a new kind of Indonesian metropolis, one that celebrates green space and environmental sustainability. The city, long known for pollution and congestion, now boasts 11 richly landscaped parks and other green spaces. In some cases even cemeteries have been expanded and redesigned to absorb more water and reduce flooding, an ever present risk in Indonesia.

Everyone knows Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook when he was 19, but because of that extraordinary beginning, everyone tends to underrate the role he has gone on to play, says Silicon Valley eminence Peter Thiel, who himself has had an outsize role in the tech revolution. Keeping the company relentlessly focused on the long term future, he is the opposite of a quarter to quarter Wall Street CEO, and thats why he deserves to be recognized as a great leader. We couldnt have said it better ourselves.

Yao Ming could have returned to China for a quiet retirement. Instead, the 7 foot 6 inch former NBA star has spoken out against various animal abuses including his countrys illegal ivory trade (China accounts for about 70% of global demand) and the practice of hunting sharks for shark fin soup. But the impact of his efforts has been far bigger than the headlines he generates. Following Yaos lead, other famous Chinese are starting to talk openly about the countrys problems resulting in a more public social debate.

Bezos has built a $174 billion empire by continually churning out new products with mass consumer appeal, from e reader tablets to streaming only TV shows to, soon, goods delivered by drones. Not all his investments have paid off: Amazons much hyped Fire Phone, which made its debut last summer, was a flop. Yet the visionary CEO not only created his diversified behemoth from scratch but turned e commerce from a fanciful idea into a globe changing practice.

Though overshadowed by last years other recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala, Satyarthi has led the global fight against child labor for more than three decades. Founded in 1980, his Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) has protected the rights of some 83,000 children around the world. Child labor, he says, is as much an economic issue, perpetuating poverty and illiteracy, as it is about human rights. In any case, no one has done as much to prevent it as he has.

Four years after building its first smartphone, Beijing based Xiaomi is valued at $45 billion. How Xiaomi got to that point, though, says less about its products (which get only so so reviews) than its founder. From the start, Lei rebuffed industry convention selling online only, giving users a strong voice on software changes, and hawking phones for a third of an iPhones price. That, it seems, is how you get to be the worlds fifth ?largest smartphone maker overnight.

In a country that bars women from driving, even the smallest advancement in womens rights should be celebrated. So theres no overstating the importance of al ?Zahrans accomplishments. In 2013 she became the first woman licensed to practice law in Saudi Arabia, and last year she opened the kingdoms first ever all woman law firm. Though her firm will represent both men and women, one of its stated goals is to argue cases on behalf of Saudi women in court.