15. Katharine Hayhoe
“… a Canadian climate scientist who also happens to be an Evangelical Christian living in Texas; from this unique perch, and with the help of her PBS web series “Global Weirding,” she has become a friendly if unexpected force in spreading the science,” Fortune said.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
14. Helle Thorning-Schmidt
The former prime minister of Denmark, Thorning-Schmidt is now CEO of Save the Children International, which ” seeks to address 400 million “forgotten” poor children who are excluded from services like health care and education because they are girls, refugees, or disabled,” Fortune said.
(Lars Krabbe/Polfoto via AP)
Lars Krabbe/Polfoto via AP
13. U.S. Rep. John Delaney, D-MarylandFortune said:
“Being a House Democrat in a government Republicans dominate entirely sounds like a recipe for irrelevance. But one of the new administration’s signature issues, rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, is a problem Delaney has focused on since he arrived in Congress four years ago. Delaney is pushing a business-friendly solution: He wants to tap proceeds from repatriated foreign profits to seed public-private partnerships that will take on new projects. That may be the best option for unleashing major spending without blowing a hole in the federal deficit.”
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
12. John Kasich
The Republican governor of Ohio makes the list for his rallying of governors around the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and influencing the GOP replacement bill in that regard.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
11. LeBron James
Fortune pointed out that when James returned to his native Ohio to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, he told Sports Illustrated “I feel my calling here goes above basketball. I have a responsibility to lead, in more ways than one, and I take that very seriously.”
He made the list for the LeBron James Family Foundation, “which will provide mentoring and full college scholarships to 1,100 underprivileged children in his hometown of Akron. He has also used his platform as the game’s most famous star to speak out on issues such as President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order and the relationship between law enforcement and black communities.”
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
10. Angela Merkel
The German Chancellor. “A committed internationalist, Merkel bristles at the idea that Germany is the liberal order’s lead defender; still, since she’s become the de facto leader of Europe, her dominance is clear,” Fortune said.
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
9. John McCainFortune said of the Arizona senator: “… one of the nation’s most trusted voices on defense … both a backer of a strong military and a cautionary voice against ill-advised conflicts. As chair of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, he’s uniquely positioned to help a new administration define what safety means.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
8. Tsai Ing-Wen
Taiwan’s first woman president is “steering a cautious path between the U.S. and China,” Fortune said. She’s “sympathetic to independence” and “pushing economic reforms.”
(Taiwan Presidential Office via AP)
Taiwan Presidential Office via AP
7. H.R. McMaster
One observer called the national security adviser “an independent thinker who will challenge the politicos and work on behalf of the United States.”
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
6. Ava DuVernay
The first African-American woman to direct a film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, DuVernay “continues to draw attention to Hollywood’s need for better representation of women and minorities both in front of, and behind, the camera,” Fortune said.
(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
5. Jeff Bezos
The Amazon founder “has revolutionized not one but two industries,” Fortune said, with Amazon.com’s retail muscle and Amazon Web Services’ cloud-computing dynamism. And, as Fortune notes, Amazon Studios productions got three Academy Awards nominations this year.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
4. Melinda Gates
The co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates pledged this year “to make birth control available to 120 million women globally by 2020, doing so in a passionate personal essay that reminded readers of the link between reproductive rights and economic growth,” Fortune said. The foundation has given out $37 billion through 2015.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
AP Photo/Seth Wenig
3. Pope Francis
The pope “continues to inspire and surprise as he reconciles the conflicting demands of traditionalism and modernity within the Catholic faith,” Fortune said.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
2. Jack MaFortune described the Alibaba CEO as “a champion of both free trade and philanthropy—and arguing that open digital marketplaces like Alibaba’s can power the world’s economy by enabling small businesses to reach an ever-expanding pool of customers.”
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File
1. Theo EpsteinFortune put him in the top spot not so much for helping break a 108-year World Series drought but for the way he “realized realized he would need to grow as a leader in order to replicate in Chicago the success he’d had with the Boston Red Sox.”
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Fortune’s 2017 list of greatest leaders does not include the President of the United States, but does include a comedian, a rapper and a baseball executive.
Chicago Cubs president Theo Epstein. who built the team that last November won its first World Series since 1908, ranks No. 1 on the list, ahead of Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Pope Francis.
Fortune acknowledges that its list of Greatest Leaders may seem random and appears to leave off obvious choices. From its website:
Remember as you scan our list that we evaluate each leader within his or her own field of endeavor. Someone leading a small organization effectively may rank above someone far more famous nudging global issues. Our point isn’t to declare that, say, No. 7 on our list is “greater” than No. 9. The point is that great leaders can be anywhere — at the helm of a giant corporation, running a rural college, or in a cramped office exerting influence through sheer personal energy.
Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.
