By Guy F. Smith
November 4, 2002

Book Review: "Leadership" by Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, with Ken Kurson
Publisher: Miramax Books, $25.95

Now in book stores across the U.S., former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's book, "Leadership", is the culmination of his effort—during the spring and summer of 2001—to provide a detailed analysis of basic principles and strategies needed to run any large organization.

The book was written for the most part before the tragic events of 9/11. That day, and subsequent days, propelled the mayor onto the national stage and our consciousness as he took command of the New York City disaster recovery effort, earning him the title of "America's Mayor" and accolades from every corner of the globe.

"Leadership" is touted by its publisher as a handbook on how to run any organization. But it has special cachet for the mayors of The United States, and for those engaged in any facet of municipal governance. New York City, with a population of more than 8 million, is not only the largest city in the U.S., it is also the center of commerce, finance, culture and the arts, as well as host to the United Nations. In that regard, it is certainly unique. But the former mayors advice of how to govern is applicable to any sized city, and is highly recommended reading, especially for newly-elected mayors.

Giuliani's first and closing chapters of the book deal with his pre-eminent role during and after 9/11. On that fateful day, he quickly formed his response team of fire and police personnel, of medical resources, and presided over the massive and sometimes understandably chaotic mobilization needed to calm a city, and provide help for the survivors of the plane crash into the World Trade Center.

"Leadership" is compelling reading: crisp, terse, dramatic and mesmerizing. Only the mayor himself could give the personal observations of one presiding over this immediate relief effort in a time of uncertainty. He took charge of handling the overwhelming task of communicating to and calming not just to the citizens of New York, but the President of the United States, and responding to a frenzied media on what was required in the emergency effort. At the same time, he coordinated—with federal, state and local officials—a multifaceted response effort.

As 9/11 unfolded, Giuliani was finishing up his second four-year term as mayor of New York, having first been elected in 1994. His career of three decades preceded him as a lawyer, prosecutor, and then mayor. In 1993, he was elected 107th Mayor of the City of New York. Term-limited, after 9/11, Giuliani left office, founding Giuliani Partners, a management consulting firm, in January, 2002, and is now much sought-after public speaker and advisor.

When he became mayor, he hung a portrait of former NYC Mayor Fiorello La Guardia behind his desk for inspiration. The late La Guardia was President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors after its founding in 1932. As the fifth President of the Conference, he presided for ten years—1935 to 1945—until USCM returned to changing leadership every year.

Giuliani describes, in detail, many of the principles important in running New York or any organization. These include holding daily one-hour morning meetings for his staff to set the tone, agenda and direction for the city, a practice he continued throughout his tenure.

Among the other 15 "rules" Giuliani espouses in his book, with backup anecdotes and illustrative details:

• Prepare relentlessly
• Surround yourself with great people
• Underpromise and overdeliver
• Loyalty: The Vital Virtue
• Organize around a purpose
• Weddings discretionary, Funerals mandatory

For each of the 15 principles, the author provides detailed examples of how these principles served him. All of them could provide guideposts for a mayor, new or already in office, seeking to put his or her indelible stamp on the course of a city.

In one instructive chapter, Giuliani gives the reader an insider's observation of his creation of a database, Compstat, which essentially was a database of crime statistics. This laid the foundation for his attempt (successful) to reduce crime during his eight years as mayor.

The system was later expanded to become a model for the city's 38 agencies with 250,000 employees, and has been imitated in many cities in the U.S.

The closing chapter of "Leadership" explains how the cleanup and recovery effort for New York and the World Trade Center was proceeding. The final pages—an Appendix—is replete with statistics of progress under Giuliani's two terms in every area of municipal governance. These include data on public safety and crime reduction, economic development, social policy, education and others, all of them could provide a road map for any mayor interested in documenting his or her own accomplishments.

In one area alone, education, Giuliani documents the immensity of the New York public school system: 1.1 million school children. During his eight years in office, funding went from $8 billion to $12 billion, and new initiatives were started in reading improvement, computerized classrooms, text book purchases, arts education and performance-based pay for principals, among others.

"Leadership"—already high on the best seller lists nationally—will long stand as one of the best recollections of a mayoral term.