Our headlines reek with failings of politicians, so-called business leaders, and celebrities gone bad. It's sometimes difficult to imagine anything good about contemporary leadership. And yet, great leaders abound. These are real heroes who stand in sharp contrast to the selfish behaviors of San Diego Mayor Filner (ok, deranged is a better word here) or the bounty of poor leaders who convince themselves that they're doing a good job running their organizations.
Bouya Haidara (below) had no time for any of this foolishness. As the Islamist armies of darkness descended on Timbuktu, Mali last year - tragic figures who only know how to destroy things, of course - Haidara and fellow conservationists at the Ahmed Baba Institute smuggled thousands of priceless historic manuscripts out of harm's way at night and through checkpoints manned by Neolithic thugs. Some 4,000 irreplaceable manuscripts were destroyed or stolen by these fools. However, Haidara and colleagues saved tens of thousands of these cornerstones of Malian culture. You'd want to be in a foxhole with Haidara because, well, he's already been there.
Photo Credit: Steve Kemper's "In the Labyrinth" blog.
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