What makes kofi annan a good leader

He was the first to emerge from the ranks of UN staff and the second to come from the African continent. Before taking the reins of the organization, he held various senior level positions at Headquarters and in the field. The UN rights chief recalled a man who was ever courageous and though direct in speech, never discourteous. Whenever — as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, I felt isolated and alone politically which, in the last four years, was often I would go for long walks with him around Geneva — and listen.

The UN family is remembering KofiAnnan and his legacy. He graduated in In conversation with Macalester president Brian Rosenberg, Annan said "good leaders must be good listeners, and above all, a good leader must be a good follower," meaning they should follow the good ideas of others.

The world is changing fast. They are disoriented. I have been blessed to meet some amazing people in my life. One of the most amazing of all passed away last week.

I had the same impression of him as most did. He exuded strength, intelligence and compassion, a rare combination indeed. What I remember best, however, was his voice. He had an incredible voice, deep, resonant and wise. In both cases he declined their request —with tragic results. In addition, under his leadership UN peacekeepers in a range of countries, including Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, were found to be sexually exploiting those they were charged to protect.

The UN failed to respond promptly to these actions and they continued into the s. In most organisations, a leader who is responsible for such profound failures would be held accountable. If not fired, or forced to resign, they would at the very least be moved to a position of lesser authority.

In fact, the UN and its member states, decided to promote Annan, selecting him to replace the first African Secretary General, Boutros Boutros Ghali, who was deemed to be too independent minded by the US. His son was implicated in the infamously corrupt food-for-oil programme that was initiated to help the Iraqi population during the period of sanctions against Saddam Hussein.

Eventually, under pressure, he appointed the independent Volcker Commission to investigate the programme. The adverse publicity eventually forced the guilty official to resign. There is no doubt that running a complex international institution like the UN is difficult and requires leaders who are willing to compromise.