THE TOURNAMENT TO LEADERS - The 2020 Bracket

Here is the 2020 Bracket of The Tournament to Leaders. The Volunteered selected by The Council, ranked, and then placed into the single-elimination tournament format. (Here done completely at random for example’s sake).

As explained in The Bracket post, these head-to-head matchups would follow a schedule similar to that of the NCAA March Madness tournament. The Final Four would determine the Leader Elect Team Members, with the eventual champion becoming the Leader Elect and the runner-up Vice Leader Elect.

Please fill out a bracket! Enjoy the research, the thought process, and the results. I would be interested to hear how yours ended up, so feel free to comment here or on any other social media platform. I’ll upload a version in documents on the website for easier download/printing.

Happy 4th!

THE TOURNAMENT TO LEADERS - The Volunteered

With (all) that being said, we culminate with the release of the list of the 60 Volunteered individuals. These men and women (hypothetically) were selected by The Council for their character and the traits that classify them as potential leaders. Many have exposed their own humanity while trying to better the humanity we share. Many have special interests or passions, causes near and dear to their hearts, or a fire that allows them the energy to seek success in any arena of life. Some have a long track record of accomplishment, while some simply caught this lone “Council” member's attention at a given moment in time.

As disclaimed, my research on some of these individuals was only the starting point to my understanding of their character, both professionally and personally. There was no extraneous attempt to balance numbers by “qualifiers” of candidates. Much was driven simply by a quick internet search. 

In the end, however, this list of 60 was placed within the single-elimination tournament bracket. (Thank you random number generator). Seedings and regions were all randomized, but would be the responsibility of The Council under “normal conditions”, whatever that means for a hypothetical exercise. 

Following are the individuals in no particular order.

The Volunteered

Dwayne Johnson Lynsi Snyder Sonia Sotomayor RuPaul Andre Charles Malcolm Jenkins

Joe Rogan Mitch Albom Daron Acemoglu Anant Agarwal Indra Nooyi

Mary Barra Malcolm Gladwell Will Smith Carmen Reinhart Sebastian Thurn

Hakeem Jeffries Stephen Colbert Mike Tomlin Ursula Burns Maya Moore

Bill Simmons Jeff Bezos Elon Musk Salman Khan Michelle Obama

Manny Maceda Andrew Yang Chael Sonnen Rhonda Crichlow

Kimberly Harris (ANY) JJ Watt Sundar Pichai Pete Buttigieg

Freddie Rodriguez Rose Namajunas Leonardo DiCaprio Doc Rivers

Alicia Silverstone Tony Robbins Mark Cuban Geoffrey Canada

Dave Chappelle Randi Weingarten Steve Kerr Howard Schultz

Keanu Reeves Alyssa Milano Jo Jorgensen

Jeffrey Sachs Guy Fieri Jack Balkin Angelina Jolie John Kasich

Kirsten Gillibrand Wayne Messam Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Jim Carrey Cami Anderson LeBron James Wendy Kopp

THE TOURNAMENT TO LEADERS - The Council of Elders

I know I have been consciously shortening the name to The Council to avoid any claims of ageism, but The Council of Elders just sounds so much cooler. Below is the list of individuals I envisioned being the nucleus of the group in charge of selecting the 60 Volunteered. For convenience sake, I took over that responsibility for them in The Volunteered post and Bracket creation. 

These individuals embody something special; they are as wise as their years. They are strong, and many have that “I’m old enough to not care about your feelings” about them, especially when it comes to important issues. Their collective knowledge, experience, and humility would be responsible for at least setting the stage and potential for national leadership, and I would feel very safe in their collective hands. They would also have the opportunity to participate in consulting with the newly elected leadership team, so their investment in the 60 individuals chosen continues beyond construction of The Bracket. 

(Remember, these 24 individuals would also have the option of including their significant other and/or a +1 in the process, so this number is a baseline). 

The Council of Elders

Responsible for the Tournament to Leaders Bracket

Gregg Popovich Tony Dungy C Vivian Stringer Geno Auriemma

Denzel Washington Oprah Winfrey Tom Hanks Martha Stewart

Warren Buffet Steve Ballmer Russel Simmons Sheila Johnson

Barack Obama Elizabeth Warren Michael Bloomberg Maxine Waters

Jerry Springer Eric Holder Diane Ravitch     Freeman Hrabowski III
Bill Nye Claudia Goldin Morgan Freeman   Ruth Bader Ginsburg