"America's Best Leaders 2005" Report Published

Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, U.S. News & World Report magazine, and public opinion research firm Yankelovich have combined to produce "America's Best Leaders 2005," an ambitious assemblage of profiles and essays published in the latest issue of U.S. News.

"America's Best Leaders 2005" purports to explore the "critical elements of leading in the 21st century," while honoring 25 individuals who are "making a lasting impact."

Convened and organized by CPL director and U.S. News editor David Gergen, a nonpartisan selection committee chose the leaders from four fields — nonprofit, private sector, public service, and "emerging leader" — based on four areas of leadership criteria: measurable and significant success within the past five years; identifiable change that is positive, enduring, and serves the common good; positive core values such as integrity, trustworthiness, transparency, competence, and creativity that are demonstrably aligned with action; and the commitment and ability to develop other leaders.

In the interest of committee harmony, quite significant exclusions from the eligibility list were the president, past presidents, and likely future presidential contenders - a move somewhat akin to excluding major leaguers from a list of the best baseball players in the country.

Nonetheless, the committee's selections for "America's Best Leaders 2005" (click for profiles) is an interesting and varied lot including household names and those leading in relative obscurity:

-Roger Ailes — Chairman and CEO, Fox News; (New York, NY)
-Geoffrey Canada — President and CEO, Harlem's Children Zone, a nonprofit organization which aims to enhance the quality of life for children; (New York, NY)
-Francis Collins and Craig Venter — Directors, National Human Genome Research Institute; (Washington, DC)
-Bill Drayton — Founder, CEO and Chair, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, an organization that supports emerging social entrepreneurs; (Washington, DC)
-Paul Farmer and Jim Yong Kim — Founders, Partners in Health, a nonprofit organization that supports health projects in poor communities; (Boston, MA)
-Shirley Franklin — Mayor, Atlanta; (Atlanta, GA)
-Thomas Friedman — Journalist and Columnist, The New York Times; (New York, NY)
-Bill & Melinda Gates — Founders, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; (Seattle, WA)
-Steve Jobs — Co-Founder and CEO, Apple Computer, Inc. and Pixar, Inc.; (San Francisco, CA)
-Brian Lamb — Founder and CEO, C-SPAN; (Washington, DC)
-Larry Page and Sergey Brin — Co-Founders, Google, Inc.; (San Francisco, CA)
-David Petraeus — Commander, Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq; (Washington, DC)
-Colin Powell — Former United States Secretary of State; (Washington, DC)
-Condoleezza Rice — United States Secretary of State and former National Security Advisor; (Washington, DC)
-Howard Schultz — Chairman and Chief Global Strategist, Starbucks Corporation; (Seattle, WA)
-Donna Shalala — President, University of Miami and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; (Miami, FL)
-Bill Shore — Founder and Executive Director, Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that organizes individuals and businesses to share their strengths to end hunger; (Washington, DC)
-Antonio Villaraigosa — Mayor, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA)
-Rick Warren — Pastor, Saddleback Church and Author, The Purpose Driven Life; (Lake Forest, CA)
-Margaret Whitman — CEO, eBay, Inc.; (San Jose, CA)
-Oprah Winfrey — Chairman, HARPO Inc. and Host of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show;' (Chicago, IL)

Article Author: Eric Olsen

Career media professional Eric Olsen is honored to be the founder and publisher of Blogcritics.org, which, quite frankly, rules - as do his wife and four children.

Visit Eric Olsen's author page — Eric Olsen's Blog