We include in the list Gardeners like Claire Diaz-Ortiz at Twitter who is committed to getting everyone a voice and to spreading the power of purpose, author Ron Adner who thinks deeply about the cultivation of innovation across entire eco-systems and game changer Ray Chambers who helped lead the successful coalition at Malaria No More.

FORBES: This New Year: Transform Your Thinking

New roads, ports, railways and power stations are spreading.

ECONOMIST: In Sri Lanka the grip of the Rajapaksas only tightens

But the spreading international credit crunch still has the power to deal Japan fresh blows.

ECONOMIST: Japan's markets

Rosefsky believes it will, arguing that the Brotherhood is less interested in seizing power and calling the shots than it is in spreading its message and influencing policy.

CNN: The Sweep: The risk of democracy in the Middle East

If you are sitting, you can still project power by stretching your legs and arms and by spreading out your belongings on the conference table, and claiming more territory.

FORBES: President Obama, Congress, and the Body Language of Negotiation

The problem for oil companies is that once-sluggish utilities and power companies, unshackled after decades of over-regulation, are spreading their wings.

ECONOMIST: Energy, the new convergence

Enthusiasm for spreading reactors among new nations should remind us that the Shah of Iran's nuclear-power program was featured in 1970s nuclear-industry advertisements.

WSJ: Should the World Increase Its Reliance on Nuclear Energy?