--- description: Fortune magazine went in search of the globe's best leaders. And it came back with Pope Francis—and 49 other change agents, reformers, and visionaries. The... title: And the Greatest Leader in the World Is… image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc38c56b96fb4e87/6986854d1eebf74a8d36fcd3/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [faith](/tag/faith/) ## faith Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # And the Greatest Leader in the World Is... by [Matt Vella](/author/matt-vella/) ## Matt Vella Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2014 2:26 PM CUT  Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience on March 5, 2014 at St. Peter's square in Vatican City. Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience on March 5, 2014 at St. Peter's square in Vatican City.Andreas Solara—AFP/Getty Images by [Matt Vella](/author/matt-vella/) ## Matt Vella Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 20, 2014 2:26 PM CUT [_Fortune_ magazine](http://money.cnn.com/gallery/leadership/2014/03/20/worlds-best-leaders.fortune/index.html "undefined") went in search of the globe’s best leaders. And it came back with [Pope Francis](http://poy.time.com/2013/12/11/person-of-the-year-pope-francis-the-peoples-pope/ "undefined")—and 49 other change agents, reformers, and visionaries. The list’s members span six continents and operate in fields including business, government, armed forces, philanthropy and religion. Some, such as the Pope, are famous the world over; many are not. “A leader’s job is to define reality and give hope,” American Express CEO Ken Chenault (number 18 on the list) told the publication. Here’s why the Pope ranks at the top; the [full list](http://money.cnn.com/leadership/worlds-best-leaders "undefined") can be [found here](http://money.cnn.com/gallery/leadership/2014/03/20/worlds-best-leaders.fortune/index.html "undefined"). --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/31812/and-the-greatest-leader-in-the-world-is/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/31812/and-the-greatest-leader-in-the-world-is/"},"headline":"And the Greatest Leader in the World Is...","datePublished":"2014-03-20T14:26:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:52:15.673Z","description":"Fortune magazine went in search of the globe's best leaders. And it came back with Pope Francis—and 49 other change agents, reformers, and visionaries. The...","url":"https://time.com/31812/and-the-greatest-leader-in-the-world-is/","keywords":["faith","Religion","Management","Leadership","Fortune"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc38c56b96fb4e87/6986854d1eebf74a8d36fcd3/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Vella","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-vella/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc38c56b96fb4e87/6986854d1eebf74a8d36fcd3/pope-francis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience on March 5, 2014 at St. Peter's square in Vatican City.","caption":"Pope Francis holds his weekly general audience on March 5, 2014 at St. Peter's square in Vatican City.","creditText":"Andreas Solara—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/faith/","name":"faith"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/31812/and-the-greatest-leader-in-the-world-is/","name":"And the Greatest Leader in the World Is..."}}]}] ```