Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest

by William Vanderbloemen

Gbowee was a young mom in Liberia, West Africa, when she ended a civil war that had ravaged her country for fourteen years. The brutal civil war was between the president (dictator, really), Charles Taylor, and tribal warlords. Thousands of people had been killed, maimed, and raped, their homes burned, their children forced to be soldiers, their infrastructure and security in ruins. One night, Gbowee had a dream in which God told her to “gather the women and pray!” So she did. Gbowee rallied women in her Lutheran church and then across the country, ordinary Christian and Muslim women who wanted better for themselves and their children. They participated in nonviolent protests for months, including sitting in a field across from the executive residence. Taylor finally agreed to meet with the women and promised that he would attend peace talks. When the peace talks stalled, Gbowee and the hundreds of women who had been peacefully watching from outside the hotel marched to the entrance of the room where the men were meeting. As the men tried to leave, without an agreement, Gbowee announced that the women would not allow the men to leave until a peace agreement had been reached. Within days the peace agreement was complete and on August 18, 2003, the Liberian Civil War ended. In 2011, Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.