John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership speaker and author who has over written over 70 books and sold over 19 million copies. He has been the top Leadership Guru on the Global Gurus sites for 6 years now and is always been voted #1. Through his Train the Trainer, licensed trainers, and internet based programs like www.maxwellplan.com and www.johnmaxwellteam.com,John Maxwell and his ideas are making a global impact. He is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week best-selling author, andis in www.Amazon.com s Hall of Fame.  While we cannot consider John Maxwell’s ideas really unique, he is a brilliant story teller and orator and has an uncanny ability to make complicated ideas easy to understand. He is a global top leadership guru because he thoroughly researches proven concepts and creates structures and narratives that support Leadership Development. As a speaker, he is structured, deliberate and inspirational.  John Maxwell is well known internationally

Ken Blanchard has always been the leadership guru with a heart, as his message throughout his career reflects how to bring out the best in people.And as an internationally renowned leadership author, speaker and consultant he has made a huge impact on the world of leadership and the lives of people who have never even read his books. In our opinion Ken Blanchard is one of the greatest leadership minds making unique but simple concepts in leadership easy to apply.Besides his bestselling books,including, The One Minute Manager, coauthored with Spencer Johnson, with sales of more than 18 million copies in more than 25 languages, Ken developed the “Situational Leadership” model and is out to make a difference in people’s lives. Everything about his leadership books, training and speaking reflects one commonality, he believes in the natural goodness of people and that bringing that goodness out creates greater relationships and emotions which in turn create better organisations. As a speaker, he is warm and steady. Ken Blanchard is well known internationally and is also list as a Top Management Expert on www.managementgurus.net

John Kotterhas been a Harvard Business School professor for over 30 years and is an internationally recognized author on leadership and change. His 18 books include international bestseller Leading Change, and followed up by Our Iceberg Is Melting , which puts his 8-step process for change intoanfun and easy to read format. In addition to the Leadership Guru Award John Kotter was awarded, Business Week magazine rated Kotter the #1 leadership guru in America based on a survey they conducted of 504 enterprises in 2001.  After his 30 years of success in teaching. He decided to start a company that would arm leaders to tackle the challenges of changing times, Kotter Internationalhelps organizations execute Kotters strategy, and leaves them with the capability to take on future business challenges and react to them quickly with agility and direction. John Kotter received full marks on being unique with his concepts and while he may not be the most inspiring of speakers, his presence on the stage commands absolute attention. John Kotters Comeback to the guru list is attributed to the licensing of his Leading Bold Change workshops based on his bestseller Our Iceberg is Melting which is refocusing the international business public to his global contribution.

We had removed Tony Robins from this category last year because we were going to place him in the #1 spot of Personal Development Gurus, but his fans keep on voting for him in the leadership category and while his focus is not officially leadership, his strategies and methods support and develop leadership across the board. So we really had no choice but to give him his well-deserved title of one of the best leadership speakers in the world. He has taken Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) to new heights and created a number of models used by leadership and sales trainers across the world today, Tony Robins is truly a pioneer in the area of Training and leadership development, and a large number of leaders of industry have at least attended a Tony Robins seminar. As a speaker, he is the most dynamic, energetic and inspirational of all the leadership gurus. He is well knowninternationally

Warren has been in the leadership circles for ages and even with todays changing times he still manages to keep up with what works in leadership. His new autobiography  says it all Still Surprised. He has been and still is a continuing influence in the leadership development arena. In 2007, BusinessWeek called him one of ten business school professors who have had the greatest influence on business thinking.The Financial Times recently named his classic book Leadefiers one of the top 50 books of all time. Warren Bennis is by all rights a global Leadership Thought Leader and yet maintains his humility and is always willing to share and help others attain greater leadership heights. Warren has written 17 books on leadership and developed thousands leaders through the University and his international lectures

Marshal Goldsmith is one of the humblest leadership gurus on this list. As multiple NY Times bestselling author, his down to earth demeanor andcompassionate attitude are probably what makes him one of the worlds best leadership coaches. Marshall Goldsmiths books, coaching and talks seem to reflect a common idea: That we often hold on to the same actions that helped us to succeed up to a point, and those same actions often prevent us from achieving higher levels of success. His articles are consistently published by Harvard Business School which also recommended six of his books in their Working Knowledge series. Marshalls ideas and processes are unique and he has personally and his licensed coaches and trainers using his methodology have made a difference in thousands of organisations. Marshall Goldsmith also shares his wisdom freely with the world at: www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.comAs a speaker, he is warm and steady. Marshall Goldsmith is well known internationally but mostly North America.

Robin Sharma is superlatively effective in creating lessons from stories, his NY Times bestselling book: the Monk who Sold his Ferrari set a new standard in combining personal development with leadership and taking readers on a mythical journey. While Robin Sharmas ideas are not new, he surely is the best at using bite sized leadership strategies to effect better leadership in his audiences. His mantra is that everyone, regardless of title, must be a leader in the new economy. They should take up challenges of personal excellence and do what is required. As a speaker, he is dynamic and structured. Robin Sharma is well known in North America, India, and Europe.

Jack Welchhad been keeping his branding up as a leadership guru with his weekly column The Welch Way, which appeared in BusinessWeek the New York Times and more than 45 major newspapers around the world. But with his controversial allegation on the unemployment rate figures, he is well, controversial and has stopped this contribution. But he has added to the leadership arena and helped develop a great number of leaders with his ideas, and we dont do politics so here he is.Mostly known for his ability to not only turnaround GE but create an organizational culture that surpassed anybodys wildest expectations. He later went on to co-author three #1 bestsellers:  Winning, Winning: The Answers and, Jack - Straight from the Gut. With the influence of The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University where students can get an MBA online, JackWelsh is back in the top 10. Jack goes beyond the principles of leadership and management everyone talks about, his ideas and processes are surly his own style and we give him full marks for his unique methodology of leadership training and development. As a speaker, he is structured and steady. He is well known in North America and Europe.

Arthur Carmazzi has made his biggest impact with his Directive Communication Psychology, a group dynamics discipline used in rapid organisational culture change and leadership development. His research and contributions to the leadership development community get full marks for uniqueness including his Environmental (Culture Based) Leadership model,his Coloured Brain Communication modeland various psychology based leadership development tools. Arthur Carmazzis models and tools combine into the Directive Communication system that has literally transformed thousands of companies through his licensed trainers, culture change consultants and personal involvement. Two of Arthurs six books are international bestsellers and are available in most Asian Languages. Arthur Carmazzis foundational philosophy is that there is no one leadership model that fits everyone and by understanding how we affect and are affectedby others in multiple environments, we can make small modifications to create our own personal leadership identity model to have a bigger more sustainable impact. As a speaker he is dynamic,energetic and inspirational. Arthur Carmazzi is well known in Asia and the Middle East.

Margaret Wheatley is a leadership studies writer and management consultant who studies organisational behaviour. She received her doctorate from Harvard University and holds an M.A. in systems thinking from New York University. She has written several best-selling books, beginning with her path-breaking Leadership and the New Science. She also served as full-time graduate management faculty at two institutions, Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and The Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. She is also a co-founder and President Emerita of The Berkana Institute, a global charitable foundation founded in 1991. The Leadership Excellence Magazine recognized her as one of the top leaders in management and leadership. She also wrote several books like, A Simpler Way coauthored with Myron Kellner-Rogers, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, and more. Her newest book, So Far From Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave New World was published October 2012. Margarets research has inspired many new ideas and given thousands a new perspective on how they would become better leaders.

James Collins lllis a business consultant, author, and speaker on leadership and company sustainability and growth. His bestsellers includeBuilt toLast coauthored with Jerry Porass, Good to Great, and recently Great by Choice. Built to Lastwas a fixture on the Business Week best-seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 25 languages. Jim Collins talent and guru factor come from his ability to research and put that research data into an easy to understand format... his contributions to leaders around the world has been help them sustain superiorsuccess. Jims uniqueness is not from the content he creates but in his approaches to gathering valuable information, he is a fact based speaker and uses that to inspire audiences to taking the required steps to creating and sustaining great organizations. Jim Collins is mostly known in North Americabut his books are internationally known and revered.

Marcus Buckingham is the Strengths Guru, He is a British-American New York Times bestselling author, researcher, motivational speaker and business consultant. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1987 with a masters degree in political science. Some of his successful and best seller books were  First, Break All The Rules Now, Discover Your Strengths, The One Thing You Need to Know,and more. He also have numerous television appearances , including The View,I Want to Work for Diddy,The Oprah Winfrey Show,Good Morning America,The Today Show,Larry King Live, and more. Marcus started his own company in 2006 The Marcus Buckingham Company (TMBC). They offering management training programs and tools dedicated to promoting the strengths revolution and To help jump start a worldwide conversation about how to get people focused on their strengths. Since he is research based, many elements of uniqueness are missing, but let’s focus on his strengths and identify that as a researcher he has transformed much of the way leaders in North America do deal with their staff, he is responsible for affecting the perceptions of hundreds of thousands of parents and how they deal with their children, his speaking style is indeed inspiring and he is able to take his research and not only make it easy to apply with specific steps, but also inspire you to take those steps.

Fawn is the personification of the heroine we see in movies. She has gone against the odds, she has been rejected and put down and yet, she has triumphs over her environment. She is an advocate women in leadership and has compiled the wisdom, insight and leadership strategies from more than 200 famous women leaders for her new book Pearls. Her philosophy through her six books is one of adaptability and an ever-changing skills set. Fawn Germer is a bestselling author and four-time, Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist who has written for The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report, and The Miami Herald. Fawn Germer deals with what it takes to be a great leader today and is an Oprah Winfrey must read author. As a speaker she is dynamic, energetic and inspirational. She is well known in North America but has had substantial international exposure.

John Baldoniis an internationally acclaimed leadership consultant, executive coach, author and speaker. He renders practical strategy to equip emerging and top executives lead and manage their people efficiently. To broaden his reach, He started Baldoni Consulting LLC, a full service executive coaching and leadership development firm. As a speaker, he was noted for his functional inputs mixed with lighthearted humor. His passion for leadership emancipates through his genuine goal of helping leaders achieve their aspirations. John speaks widely to corporate, professional, military and university audiences. As an executive coach, John helps managers to achieve positive results by focusing on communication, influence, motivation and supervision. He is also the author of 10 books on leadership including his newest Lead With Purpose: Giving Your Organization a Reason to Believe in Itself. In 2012, Leadership Gurus International ranked John No. 10 on its list of global leadership gurus. While John did lose a little rank this year it is not because he’s less of a guru, he just hasn’t come up with anything new recently. John Baldoni is well known in North America and has a soft yet humorous speaking style

Together with his co-author Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton has, made his greatest impact in the leadership community with innovative workplace strategies on employee appreciation and how to inspire creativity for better organisational results. His 7 books including the New York Times bestseller, The Carrot Principle, and the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller, The Orange Revolution, and All In have been translated into 20 languages. He is highest rated speaker at the national Society for Human Resource Management annual conference. Chester Elton has been featured in, The Financial Times, Washington Post, Fast Company, and the New York Times. He has been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN, ABCs Money Matters, MSNBC and National Public Radio. Chester Elton and Adrian Gosticks 20 years of research into effective workplaces provide proof and strategies that work, and while many of his concepts are not new, we give him high marks on for structure and his ability to get others to understand and take action. As a speaker he is dynamic, energetic and inspirational. He is known internationally but mostly North America.

Together with his co-author Chester Elton, Adrian Gostick, yes, has made his greatest impact in the leadership community with innovative workplace strategies on employee appreciation and how to inspire creativity for better organisational results… Rather than repeating all same information as Adrians co-author above, Chester Elton, we will just add that these two guys are almost identical in their contributions to leadership development and fan base, while each is a unique individual with different experiences, . As a speaker Adrian Gostickis dynamic, energetic and thought provoking. He is known internationally but mostly North America.

James Kouzes is both a leadership expert and an experienced executive. Wall Street journal proclaims him as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. He s also the Deans Executive Professor of Leadership, Leavey School of Business in Santa Clara University. Jim Kouzes is the co-author with Barry Posner of the award-winning and bestselling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over one million copies sold. As a leadership guru he has been around and has won numerous awards in addition to Top 30 Leadership Rank like HR Magazines Most Influential International Thinkers for 2010 and 2011 and Leadership Excellence magazine as number sixteen on its list of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. Jim Kouzes applies his vast business experience to support his ideas and talks as a leadership thought leader leaving audiences with nuggets of wisdom. His Evidence-based LEADERSHIP PRACTICES INVENTORY (LPI) heps individuals to learn and develop James own style of leadership. His mission is to empower others to make extraordinary things happen and supports youth leadership development through educating educators. He is mostly known in North America

Mark Murphys Leadership IQ company focuses to ensue employee engagement through a research based compilation of studies that support leadership development. Marks leading-edge research has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Business Week, U.S. News & World Report, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and more. He has also appeared on ABCs 20/20, CBS News, Fox Business News and NPR. Mark is a great story teller and uses various studies as a foundation to get his audiences to make realisations. His philosophy revolves around communication, connectivity and team interaction and is define throughout his 3 books. He has created a structured system that individuals can apply to develop better leadership ability and is constantly doing more research to maintain a cutting edge leadership development including various assessments and surveys. Due to his innovations and studies we give Mark Murphy full marks on uniqueness. Mark Murphy is a steady and structured speaker. He is well known in North America.

Dr. Ram Charan is more of a management guru than leadership, but much of his work has affected the leadership sphere. Known for providing relevant advice that takes into account the real-world complexities of business. Ram Charanhas written 15 books which have collectively sold more than 2 million copies. He was identified by Fortune as the leading expert in corporate governance and has through in-house executive education programs. His ideas are practical and proven, so while Ram Charan’s material is not that unique, it is brilliantly laid out and structured. His philosophy deals with the idea that people development and the expenditures that go with it, will provide a more effective work force and therefore improve the organisation’s bottom line. As a speaker is structured and steady. He is well known in India and the North America

We originally didnt include Tony Fernandesin our list since he is a captain of industry, a great one, yes, but not one who develops leadership in others by profession, or so we thought. Well, with as many speeches, articles and public appearances Tony has been doing around the world. Plus the votes he has gotten for sharing his leadership wisdom on the how he founded and grew AirAsia, the worlds most successful budget Airline, we could no longer refuse. While Tony has no books (we are still waiting), he has been extremely innovative in his leadership methodology. And he gladly shares his leadership development processes and strategies to his audiences and applies it with his staff, developing entrepreneurial leaders across his entire AirAsiaorganisation. As a speaker, he is dynamic and inspirational. Tony Fernandes is well known in Asia

With his new book The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin ended up on the Leadership Radar. While Seth is surly one of the Top Marketing Gurus, his books and writing these days seem to be going more and more toward the ability to influence change, not only in yourself, but in others. That sure sounds like Leadership to us. plus the votes he got over the past few months puts Seth into the Leadership Guru category. Besides 14 bestsellers out of fourteen books he has written, each of which have been translated into more than 30 languages, Seth Godin gets full marks for originality. His ideas and applications of psychology principles are surely unique. Seth Godin is not just a bestselling author and speaker, he has real companies including http://squidoo.com, which raises money for charity and pays royalties to its million plus members. As a speaker, he dynamic and thought provoking. While Seth Godins well known internationally, he is strongest in North America.

Tom become world famous when he wrote his best-known book, In Search of Excellence with Robert Waterman. The book was written, at a time when Americas competitiveness was being threatened by Japan and demonstrated that there were still many excellent American companies. On the Management arena, they call him, the Red Bull of management thinkers. Tom encourages leaders to strive more for excellence despite the trying and tough times. He is also the chairman of the Tom Peters Company. While his popularity as dwindled and Tom Peters mostly focuses on management these days, he still has an impact on leadership development through his foundational ideas and is still a sought after Leadership Speaker. As a speaker is structured and steady and while his book is internationally recognised, Tom Peters is mostly known in North America.

Jason Jennings is a business though leader, a researcher, a keynote speaker and a bestselling business Author. Hes an authority on leadership, productivity and innovation and love to help individuals and companies reach their full business potential. Jason began his career as a radio and television reporter and become its owner on the long run. Later, he founded Jennings-McGlothlin & Company, a consulting firm that became the worlds largest media consultancy. He traveled around the globe in search of the worlds fastest companies for his landmark book, Its Not the Big That Eat the Small - It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow. Within weeks of its release it hit the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and New York Times Bestsellers Lists. Now published in 32 languages, USA TODAY named it one of the top 25 books of the year! Jason Jennings is a dynamic speaker with new ideas that shape leadership perspectives in those who read his books and attend hi talks. He is mostly known in North America.

Mark Sanborn is an international bestselling author and noted authority on leadership, team building, customer service and change. Mark is the author of eight books, including the bestseller  The Fred Factor. As a leadership guru he been on this list for a few years and keeps getting votes, but Mark Sanborn is more than just a guy people voted for, his unique ideas and leadership talks have supported the development of greater leaders and even better people. The Fred Factor: How Passion In Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary, sold more than 1.6 million copies internationally has added to his impact on the leadership sphere. Mark Sanborn is an inspirational speaker with a powerful and steady voice that commands respect. He is mostly known in North America.

Named as one of the Top 50 Leadership Coaches in America, Dr. Barry Posner was greatly known for his groundbreaking research study on leadership which was translated into his book, The Leadership Challenge.  This book combines keen insights with practical applications and captures both why and how leadership is everyones business. The book was translated into over 20 foreign languages and receives several awards. Dr. Posner was also active in the academe; He is a professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University where he served as Dean of the School. Enthusiastically welcomed as a warm and engaging conference speaker and dynamic workshop facilitator, Barry has consulted with a wide variety of public and private sector organizations around the globe and to several professionals. With those achievements at hand he was regarded as one of the Top 50 Leadership Coaches in America. As a speaker is structured and steady. He is well known in North America

Richard Chang is an author of over twenty-five books on business and personal development, including his best-selling works: The Passion Plan at Work-Building a Passion-Driven Organization, Performance Scorecards-Measuring the Right Things in the Real World, and The Passion Plan -A Step-by-Step Guide to Discovering, Developing, and Living Your Passion. He is also the author of a number of award-winning video and audio programs. Richard Chang also known as the highly respected for his quality improvement, organization development, customer value, strategic planning, measurement systems, team development, performance improvement, product realization and human resource development expertise. Richard Chang has served as part-time faculty member at Loyola Marymount University and as an Associate Professor for the Graduate School of Human Resource Management and Development at Chapman University. And he also served on the faculty for California State University and several community colleges in Southern California.

Dr. Noel M Tichy is an American management consultant, author and educator. Dr. Tichy not only extends hi s expertise in business  firms and  private sectors but to the academe as well. Yes, he is a Management guy but as many of the top eadership gurus, his contribution the eadership sphere has been substansial.A dedicated Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.  Being the Director of Global Business Partnership, which ran the Global Leadership Programprepared him for the Leadership Guru award.  He has a great impact in developing senior executives managing skills especially in the threat of globalization. His past works includes heading GEs Leadership Center and also a professor at Columbia University Business School.  Dr. Tichy is the author of countless books. His most recent book is JUDGMENT: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls. His huge contribution in management literary regarded him as one of the Top 10 Management Gurus by Business Week. He is known in North

Steve Farber is a leadership keynote speaker, executive coach, and bestselling author. He enriched his leadership skills with The Tom Peters Company as Vice President for 6 years where he met several mentors and gurus. Steve Farber is the president of Extreme Leadership, Incorporated, and the founder of The Extreme Leadership Institute, organizations devoted to the cultivation and development of Extreme Leaders in the business community, non-profits and education. Farbers book, The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership is a recipient of Fast Company magazines Readers Choice Award and was named one of the ten best business books of 2004 by the on-line resource, CEO Refresher. His second book, The Radical Edge: Stoke Your Business, Amp Your Life, and Change the World, was hailed as a playbook for harnessing the power of the human spirit. He totally inspires business leaders to reach to the extreme of their leadership endeavors through his passion, enthusiasm and humor. He is an inspirational speaker and is mostly known in North America.

Maya Hu-Chan is an international management consultant, certified executive coach, author, public speaker and leadership development educator, specializing in global leadership, executive coaching and cross-cultural business skills. She has been Rated Top 100 Thought Leaders by Leadership Excellence Magazine. Harvard Business School has chosen her book Global Leadership: The Next Generation to be one of their Working Knowledge recommended books. This book was translated into multiple languages across Asia and Europe. As a leadership guru she has been on our radar for some time and her consistency and impact have grown to win her the global gurus award. Maya Hu-Chan is well known in South East Asia.