Since the shock of former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's death, I have been reflecting on what made him so special.
To my mind, it is simply this: Kofi Annan was both one of a kind and one of us.
He was an exceptional global leader — and he was also someone virtually anyone in the world could see themselves in: those on the far reaches of poverty, conflict and despair who found in him an ally; the junior U.N. staffer following in his footsteps; the young person to whom he said until his dying breath, "Always remember, you are never too young to lead — and we are never too old to learn."