Leadership, by Rudolph William Giuliani and Ken Kurson, is a thorough 394-page treatise on the methods and underlying principles which shaped Giuliani's two-term reign as Mayor of New York City. Written in the first person, the book offers an intimate look at Giuliani's professional life, from his days as a clerk for Judge Lloyd McMahon, to his tenure as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, through his two tumultuous terms as Mayor. —Maximilian Moehlmann
Leadership
by Rudy Giuliani
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| Childhood | Although the book focuses mostly on his professional life, Giuliani includes a few anecdotes from his days growing up in New York City. From his near death experience (almost being lynched for wearing New York Yankees memorabilia deep in Brooklyn Dodgers territory), to beating up the neighborhood bully (using the boxing skills his father had taught him), Giuliani manages to find a way to relate it all to his political and professional life. "I have a visceral reaction to bullies. I can't tolerate it when a predator takes an unfair advantage. That's the reason I brought such intensity to prosecuting the Mafia and corrupt government officials." (p. 269) Giuliani's character is a combination of his mother's emphasis on intellectual puissance and his father's encouragement of physical fortitude. |
| College | Giuliani explains the origins of his altruistic nature as rooted in his childhood ambitions to become a priest or a doctor, "For the first eighteen years of my life, I had two main vocations in mind — medicine or the priesthood. Both satisfied a feeling that had been growing in me my whole life: that to be happy and fulfilled, I had to serve a greater cause — helping others" (p. 172) Admitting that his "budding interest" (p. 173) in women made priesthood unlikely, Giuliani decided to enroll in the pre-med program at Manhattan College. It was during this time that Giuliani honed his love for philosophy, and his desire to study and practice the law. "Both in college and law school, my fascination with Western civilization blossomed...it makes sense that a society that believes in the rights and value of the individual human being allows citizens to elect their leaders, to decide what to believe, to stake claims to better lives. What fascinated me about democracy was that it did not come ready formed: it had to be invented." (p. 173) |
| Clerkship | After finishing law school at NYU in 1968, Giuliani clerked for Judge Lloyd McMahon in the Southern District of New York. Judge McMahon was mentor and a friend to Giuliani, arming him with the tools necessary to become a proficient litigator, as well as a strong leader. "Judge McMahon taught by both example and instruction, and instilled in me a feeling about public service that has never left me. He enhanced my already strong beliefs in loyalty, hard work, and high expectations while teaching me quite a bit about respect, too." (p. 229) |
| U.S. Attorney | Before becoming U.S. Attorney in 1983, Giuliani was an assistant U.S. Attorney, as well as the Assistant Attorney General in the Reagan Administration. Giuliani admits that it was during his 1986 prosecution of corruption in the Parking Violations Bureau that he initially thought about running for mayor. "One evening I was walking on the green in New Haven [where, at the defense's request, the trial had been moved] with the rest of the prosecution team. It was a rare few minutes of solitude before we dove back into preparation for the case...I dwelt on the sad, infuriating details of a scandal that was emblematic of everything wrong with New York City's government, and it occurred to me that I could do even more to fight public corruption if I were mayor. I thought, 'I could straighten this out.'" (p. 220) |
| Mayor: Major Reforms | Giuliani writes about his focus as mayor on administrative reform and increased accountability measures to combat the deleterious effects of crime and corruption in New York during the early 1990's. His introduction of the Compstat system in the NYPD and Prison Systems, as well as the Total Efficiency Accountability Management System (TEAMS), helped reduce the murder rate in New York by 67% between 1993 and 2001. Giuliani also describes his decision to transform the Child Welfare Service into an independent agency known as the Administration for Children's Services (ACS). The number of adoptions surged, number of cases per case workers plummeted, and the foster-care population fell by almost half. "It's the ultimate proof of the versatility of accountability. No matter what you're tracking, comparing results to previous indicators, then demanding improvement, is the best way to achieve anything. These accountability measures led not only to better accountability but to better morale. As each agency became more efficient and more effective, people felt more positive." (p. 96) |
| Leadership Ethos | The bulk of Giuliani's book is spent describing his personal mantra for successful leadership. Traditional tenets for success such as the importance of the morning meeting (his favorite), meticulous preparation, accountability, communication, honesty, loyalty, independence and resiliency are all explained and demonstrated in various case studies from his career. "All leaders are influenced by those they admire. Reading about them and studying their development inevitably allows an aspiring leader to grow his own leadership traits...but as critical as it is to learn from others, much of a leaders approach must be formed from the raw material of his or her own life." (p. xiv) Giuliani refers to his colleagues in the U.S. Attorney's office, to Ronald Reagan, and to his five uncles who were members of the NYPD and FDNY. A true New Yorker at heart, Giuliani shows that his ability to lead New York out of the proverbial gutter was a result of these principles. |
| 9/11 | Giuliani uses the events of Sept. 11, 2001 to show how his leadership philosophy was put to the test. While he explains that his performance during the crisis and response was effective, he stresses the fact that the criteria of his response were no different from any of the other problems he tackled as Mayor. "The events of September 11 affected me more deeply than anything I have ever experienced; but the idea that there was a pre-September 11 Rudy and a wholly other post-September 11 Rudy is not true. I was prepared to handle September 11 precisely because I was the same person who had been doing his best to take on challenges my whole career." (p. x) Even in those dark times, he was able to focus on response and find ways to be positive about New York's prognosis. "I am an optimist by nature. I think things will get better, that the good people of America and New York City will overcome any challenge thrown our way. So in the face of this overwhelming disaster, standing amid sixteen acres of smoldering ruins, I felt a mixture of disbelief and confidence that we would soon be rescuing survivors." (p. 22) Giuliani's strong feelings about terrorism and national security come through in the chapters about 9/11. In an excerpt from his direct address to the U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Terrorism, he writes, "Look at that destruction, that massive, senseless, cruel loss of human life...and then I ask you to look in your hearts and recognize that there is no room for neutrality on the issue of terrorism. You're either with civilization or with terrorists. On one side is democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human life; on the other is tyranny, arbitrary executions, and mass murder. We're right and they're wrong. It's as simple as that." (p. 187) |
| Cancer | The former Mayor is quite candid about his battle against prostate cancer and his decision to forgo a senate run in order to focus on his treatment. "No matter how open one is about a life-threatening illness, ultimately you face it alone...the way I face fear is by feeling it, acknowledging I'm feeling it, and then assessing my options. Prostate cancer is a frightening disease. But at least there are ways of dealing with it...For many reasons my life was very different following my battle. Even more than any of the obvious changes, it left me with the philosophical perspective that comes from considering one's mortality. I honed my ability to compartmentalize the challenges I faced." (p. 138, 143) |
| The Future? | As the campaign heats up, it is obvious that Giuliani is taking some of his own advice: "The art to being successful in presidential campaigns is figuring out the theme that will captivate people. Too often, candidates try to run the last campaign over again, but that's a losing battle. In 1992, Bill Clinton capitalized on repetition of his 'It's the economy, stupid' theme. I thought the approach in 2000 should be 'It's education, stupid,' and Bush owned that issue." (p. 127) |
