He's America's Mayor
2003 Boaz Rauchwerger
In the fall of 2001 he was about to complete six highly productive years as the 107th mayor of New York City. In fact, he had been one of the most effective mayors that city had ever seen.
Then, on September 11th, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Rudolph Giuliani became the most famous mayor in the world as he played an unwanted role in history. He eventually became known as "America's Mayor."
As the spokesman for the aftermath of one of the most horrific events of the 21st Century, Giuliani exhibited an incredible sense of calm, determination, compassion, and leadership that he won the hearts of millions of people worldwide.
In 2002 he completed an amazing book entitled "Leadership." It describes leadership skills that Giuliani developed throughout his career and that can be used successfully by anyone who has to run anything.
His leadership training began as a youngster in New York. He learned, from his father's boxing lessons, the importance of staying calm while facing an attack and the need to stand up to bullies. His mother instilled in him a love for reading. That grew into a determination to master new subjects.
After earning a law degree, Giuliani subsequently became a federal attorney. Taking on mob families, giants in business, and famous figures, he became the best-known law enforcement figure in America since J. Edgar Hoover. In 1993, as he was elected Mayor of New York City, Giuliani inherited a city ravaged by crime and crippled by an inability to serve its citizens. His accomplishments during his six-year tenure as Mayor were legendary.
Thus, the book "Leadership" is filled with powerful ideas that are proven as to their effectiveness. In a chapter entitled "First Things First," Giuliani states that, since 1981, he began every morning with a meeting of his top staff. "The idea was to get as much work as possible out of the way in the first hour of the day," he states. "The morning meeting was the core of my approach to managing. It kept me accountable. The morning meeting was where the chief executive was responsible, and could hold everybody else responsible."
On the topic of problem solving, Giuliani states, "One of the best lessons a leader can communicate to his or her staff is that encountering problems is to be expected. But failing to mention problems – or worse, covering them up – should not be tolerated."
Giuliani talks about recognition as a powerful leadership tool: "One of the best parts of being mayor – really, of any leadership role – is getting the chance to let people know how much their work means to you."
The value of small victories early on is immense because it gives people hope. Giuliani states: "Whenever I started a new endeavor, I looked to have a clear, decisive victory as early as I could. It needn't have been a large initiative, and in fact was usually better if the problem was small enough so that it was easily understood and yielded an unambiguous solution.
In discussing preparation, action, and follow-through as elements of leadership, Giuliani states:"I realized that preparation – thus eliminating the need to make assumptions – was the single most important key to success, no matter what the field. Leaders may possess brilliance, extraordinary vision, fate, even luck. Those help; but no one, no matter how gifted, can perform without careful preparation, thoughtful experiment, and determined follow-through."
Whether things work out good or bad, leaders take responsibility. Giuliani states: "The two-word sign on my desk genuinely summarizes my whole philosophy: I'M RESPONSIBLE."
In a chapter entitled, "Surround Yourself with Great People," Giuliani writes: "The first part of choosing great people is to analyze your own strengths and weaknesses. That gives you an idea of where your needs are the greatest. The goal is to balance your weaknesses with the strengths of others, then to evaluate the team overall."
A mark of leadership is how one faces failures and disappointments. On that topic, Giuliani writes: "When a trial I was prosecuting went wrong, or when some strategy failed while I was mayor, or somebody made a mistake, or I said something people misunderstood, I would think of baseball, and how even the best hitters fail two out of three times. The greatest pitchers lose some games, and lose badly. There are important skills to be learned from picking yourself up after something goes wrong, to keep moving ahead without letting it throw you off course."
Giuliani's leadership skills were tested to the limits in his recent fight with prostate cancer. He writes, "Many people diagnosed with cancer feel that they have to hide it – that it will feel less real if no one knows about it, or that their employer will hold it against them, or that their friends will pity them. In fact, the fear gets worse by being hidden. If you can say, ‘I'm afraid to give that speech.' ‘I'm afraid to make that decision,' ‘I'm afraid to deal with cancer,' you can start dealing with it."
Other thoughts from this book included: "You cannot ask those who work for you to do something you're unwilling to do yourself. It is up to you to set a standard of behavior. A big part of leadership is consistency – letting those who work for you and others you lead know that you'll be there for them through good times and bad."
I highly recommend this book on leadership by Rudolph Giuliani. Especially because of the following: "Sometimes the leader has to be optimistic simply because if he isn't nobody else will be. And you've got at least to try to fight back, no matter how daunting the odds."
He certainly exemplified that final thought after 9-ll.
A Daily Leadership Affirmation
I gravitate toward optimism and make a great effort – no matter what the odds are.
Article reproduced with permission from Boaz Rauchwerger. You may reprint any of these articles in any publication or Web site so long as you credit Boaz Rauchwerger as the author and include this Web site address, www.Boazpower.com.