Maybe you gave flowers, chocolate or a stuffed bear to someone special on Valentine's Day. But we're still feeling the love of the season and thought it would be the perfect time to highlight some of the inspirational people whose ideas and actions make our hearts go pitter pat. Check out who made our list and then let us know what leaders you love!
Irene Rosenfeld
What's not to love about this leader? CEO of Kraft Foods since 2006, Rosenfeld (pictured) successfully turned around a giant company. With over 30 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Rosenfeld currently ranks #1 on Fortune’s 2011 “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” list. Here she is in a WOBI-exclusive video talking about how one goes about turning around a giant.
Irene Rosenfeld: Act Like an Owner
Bill George
This best-selling leadership author and Harvard Business School professor who teaches leadership knows of what he speaks as the former CEO of Medtronic. He's got a vibrant blog at billgeorge.org and can be seen in this WOBI exclusive video talking about how the hard part of 21st century leadership is not increasing the size of the company -- it's employee empowerment, company mission and values.
Bill George: 21st Century Leadership
Patricia Woertz
We love great leaders but perhaps even more when they break the mold. Patricia Woertz, CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, does this in many ways. In her own words she's an outsider, "outside the company, outside the industry, outside the family, outside the gender expectations." In this exclusive video Woertz talks about how to lead change.
Patricia Woertz: How to Lead Change
Jack Welch
It's not just his CV -- Former Chairman and CEO of GE who took the company’s marketing capitalization from $13 billion to $400 billion -- it's his ability to fire up a room inspiring audiences large and small with his passion for raising up employees. In this WOBI-exclusive interview, Welch talks of how you must make everybody in your company an innovator.
Jack Welch: Making Everybody an Innovator
Ben Zander
Zander is only one to make this list that has never been a CEO. But he is a leader -- of the Boston Philharmonic -- and he's gone deep into the subject. He's one of the most dynamic speakers we've ever seen. He's funny, charming and able to dip into history and personal experience in music to convey his message that effective leadership is about taking people with you -- an inspirational message that is actionable in today's world.
