Naheed Nenshi is a Canadian politician and associate professor who was born in Canada and comes from South Asian origin. He became the first minority mayor of Calgary, Canada. He is also the first Muslim mayor in Canada. Naheed studied at John F. Kennedy School of Government, University of Calgary and Harvard University. He is a Republican with a strong voice and is successful in his line of work. Nenshi was so successful that he was reelected in 2013 with a mere 74% of the vote.
I chose Naheed Nenshi because I was previously unaware of who he was and I feel I can also enlighten people on who he is. He is a foreign leader both racially and geographically, so he symbolizes compromise and racial equality. He also empowers Muslims being that he is the first Muslim mayor of Calgary, Canada. Nenshi, as mentioned, is from Canada, so this is also a chance for me to get a grasp on Canadian politics and see how they compare and differ to American politics. I believe that Naheed Nenshi is an example of a good leader because he is a popular political figure and he isn't always totally serious. He is noted for his humorous replies to critics and constituents on Twitter. Beside the fact that he is powerful and hilarious, he also can be very giving seeing that he donated $20,000 (10% of his 2012 salary) to charity. He has won several awards for his doings as well. He won a Young Leader award in 2011 by the World Economic Forum, the President's Award of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and the 'World Mayor' prize by the City Mayors Foundation. Nenshi was also ranked as second most important person in Canada by Maclean's magazine Canadians list in 2013. All of this supports my idea of what a good leader should be: funny, recognized and smart.
A lesson that can be taught by Naheed Nenshi is that nothing should hold you back from achieving your dream. Taking the step to run for office can be a hard one if you're considered a minority, but it obviously gave motivation to Nenshi because he won mayor and is highly noted for it.
