Top 5 successful leaders who changed the course of history
Billions of people have lived and are still living on earth, with similar and different ideas, opinions, aspirations, expectations, and visions that sprout according to distinct ways of thinking.
Very few people were able to realize the truth, so they took it upon themselves to deliver it to society. The crowds surrounded them in unparalleled confidence, and they were willing to obey these few in their journeys of revolution and change.
They are successful leadership figures who, with their innate and emotional intelligence, were able to realize how to present themselves in a good way, communicate effectively with others, motivate them, stir up their feelings, and direct them to serve the desired interests of all.
In this article, we will talk about successful leadership figures who made radical changes in the world, wrote their names in history, deserved all the glory and fame, and became schools and sources of inspiration for every aspirant.
Successful Leaders
The following are examples of successful leadership figures who have excelled in creating broad fan bases directed towards a noble and lofty goal:
1. Nelson Mandela
One of the most prominent and successful leadership figures in the twenty-first century. He is one of the most famous men of his time—the African Nelson Mandela, who resisted racism, put an end to discrimination on the basis of color, and reaped the love of his people and every person who seeks to achieve social justice.
Nelson Mandela was born in Transkei, South Africa, in 1918 and grew up influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his ideas denouncing violence and steering towards peace. He was a distinguished student in the mission schools he attended and then continued his studies at Fort Harry College, majoring in law, to open a law firm jointly with his friend.
His political activity began in 1942, when he joined the African National Congress party, in which he opposed the policy of racial discrimination and was active within it in the anti-racism challenge campaign.
Among his most prominent achievements that reflected his leadership personality was leading the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL), after he was able to change the course of the conference and turn it into a mass, non-violent revolutionary movement that follows the methods of strike and civil disobedience to obtain their rights.
He was elected as the first black African president, and this presidential election, in which he succeeded with a rate of 62%, was the first election in which all races were allowed to vote.
In 2013, the death of the laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize closed the curtain on the life of one of the world's most successful leaders.
2. Ernesto Che Guevara
Who among us did not put a personal picture of successful leaders on the wall of his room? I did. I put a picture of Ernesto Che Guevara to set an example for me in his struggle and in being a beloved figure who was able to meet the aspirations of his society.
Guevara was born in Argentina in 1928 and began studying medicine. A trip in South America that he took with his friend had a deep impact on him, so he returned to pursue his studies with passion and set his mind on providing medical care to the needy, but later he found that the revolution against injustice is a request that is more useful than medicine. Therefore, he practiced gang wars and was famous for carrying out executions of traitors and informers.
Loyalty to the country's freedom was his most important value. Therefore, we find in the course of his life many movements to contribute to the overthrow of unjust regimes, as happened in Guatemala when he witnessed the overthrow of its left-wing government and as happened in Cuba when he supported Fidel Castro. It is remarkable to see the size of the popular base that surrounded Guevara.
Some of them described him as a saint after his execution in 1967, and one of his most famous sayings is a phrase that reflects his creativity as a writer in addition to his successful leadership personality.
He addressed it to university students, saying: “Be in touch with the people, not to ‘help’ them with knowledge or with anything—like an aristocratic lady giving a coin to a beggar—but to become contributors to the revolutionary forces that rule Cuba today, to be part of the revolution, and at the same time to get an experience that may be more important than all the interesting things you learn in this course.”
3. Mahatma Gandhi
One of the most famous successful leadership figures in the world, Mahatma Gandhi, was a man of peace who called on Hindus to respect the rights of Muslims, resisted the British occupation of India with great peace, and was famous for being a supporter of non-violence culture and the policy of peaceful attitudes.
His real name is Hindu Karamchand Gandhi, and his title is Mahatma, which means the owner of a great soul or a saint. He was born in 1869 in Gujarat, India, into a conservative family with a long history of political work. He studied law in Britain and returned with a certificate that qualifies him to practice the legal profession.
He established the term “peaceful resistance” in political science, which is based on courage, truth, and non-violence. Then there is violence in the event that there is no other option left, which consists of disobedience, striking, and abstaining from food, provided that the enemy has a remnant of conscience.
He traveled to South Africa and stayed for 22 years, then returned to India to become the most popular leader thanks to his interest in the social struggle against injustice and the political struggle against occupation. This was what earned him the love of a wide group of people, as he was striking with the sword of the peasant and outcast workers whom he called "sons of God."
What made him famous among successful leadership personalities was his commitment to his principles. He began fasting until his death in 1932 in protest against a law that perpetuates caste discrimination among Indians. His strike resulted in the Pune agreement that abolished the electoral discrimination system.
In 1922, Gandhi used his successful leadership personality to lead a state of civil disobedience that reached the point of clashing with the British forces.
Gandhi was a successful leadership figure in influencing the hearts of his fans. This aroused the ire of fanatical Hindus when he sought to reunite India between Muslims and Hindus, so one of them shot him and killed him as a martyr of justice in 1948.
4. Martin Luther King
When talking about successful leadership figures, we must address the great American leader Martin Luther King, who led a campaign against racial discrimination against black people in the United States of America. His noble deeds during his lifetime deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
Martin Luther King was born in 1929 in the United States of America, in the state of Tennessee, and he graduated from schools designated for black people until he obtained a doctorate in philosophy from Boston University. He began his political career when he encouraged blacks to boycott transportation companies that practiced racial discrimination against them. He was distinguished by his non-violent approach to defending the rights of black people against discrimination and oppression.
He was imprisoned several times during his life, but this did not deter him from his determination to continue the revolution until he achieved equality. His line was so peaceful that he asked his supporters not to show any reaction to the attempt to murder him with a bomb during his speech in Montgomery.
King was a successful and influential leadership figure who was able, in 1962, to lead a series of demonstrations, sit-ins, and mass marches. These demonstrations did not end with his imprisonment at the time.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35, and he was the youngest person to receive it. He also won many titles and honors before and after his death, which was an assassination at the hands of a fanatic white man in 1968.
5. Mother Teresa
We will conclude our article on successful leadership personalities with a female leadership personality: Mother Teresa, the nun who devoted her life to providing assistance to those in need around the world. Her works left a good impression on the public, thus becoming an example to follow in giving and benevolence.
Genes Gonxa Bojaccio was born in Macedonia in 1910. Her father died when she was eight years old. She became very attached to her mother and received from her the values of goodness, giving, and helping people in need. Her mother always said to her, “My little girl, you never eat a bite of food unless you share it with others.”
The sacrifices and giving of Mother Teresa were what distinguished her personality. Although she did not lead revolutions, she was a successful leadership figure, consecrating the love of giving in people's hearts through her good practices. It is said that she donated the remaining food on one of her trips to the poor and that she refused the banquet for the traditional honor of the Nobel and asked for $192,000 instead to feed the poor in India.
What increased the popularity of St. Teresa was her humility and embodiment of the tenderness that she calls for, so the price of her costume was only one dollar. During her life, she founded the Charitable Missionaries Association, and with increased donations, she built an orphanage, a nursery, a leprosy colony, a family clinic, and a series of mobile clinics.
Her winning the Nobel Peace Prize and many other honors indicates the success of her leadership personality. Most crucially, at the time of her passing, her missionaries had completed 610 missions for charity in 123 different countries, making her one of the most influential leaders in the history of the effort to save tortured people.
In conclusion
This was a group of successful leadership figures that we chose for you, all of whom were characterized by providing added value to the world through such things as justice, freedom, sacrifice, and peace.
They left a good impact that generations are still passing on, generation after generation. Certainly, the credit for that goes back to the great works they did, which were the result of their free and conscious ideas, which would not have gained all this spread and spotlight had it not been for their successful leadership personalities who were able to influence others.