Leadership

New York: Miramax Books, 2002. First Edition [stated]. Seventh Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xvii, [1], 407, [3] pages. Appendices. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. Bookplate on half-title page is signed by the author (Rudy Giuliani). Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani (born May 28, 1944) is an American lawyer, businessman, public speaker, and former mayor of New York City. Politically a Democrat, then an Independent in the 1970s, and a Republican since the 1980s, Giuliani was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York during the 1980s. Giuliani prosecuted pivotal cases against the American Mafia, and against corrupt corporate financiers. During his first term as mayor of New York City, Giuliani hired a new police commissioner, William Bratton, who applied the broken windows theory of urban decay, which holds that minor disorders and violations leads to further and more serious crimes that can threaten the safety of a city. Within several years, Giuliani was widely credited for lowering the rate of violent crimes. Giuliani was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2001, and was given an honorary knighthood in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II for his leadership in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The former Mayor of New York City offers his own basic principles of leadership and illustrates them with stories drawn on his own experiences. While not an autobiography, this book includes references to his youth, his career as a federal prosecutor, and his two terms as Mayor of New York City. He includes revelations about the events of September 11, 2001, and their aftermath, and how his life had prepared him for his much admired performance as leader in a time of crisis. Written in a blunt and straightforward style reminiscent of the man himself, Leadership allows the reader to peek over Giuliani's shoulder as he goes about the day-to-day work of managing New York City. Giuliani focuses on 14 key mandates from Prepare Relentlessly to Stand Up To Bullies and gives examples of how he employed each one. Lively yet practical, the book should be required reading for every governmental manager, and anyone else trying to lead an organization, large or small. Giuliani's book is also notable for his recollections of the events of Sept. 11. Giuliani's response, as we would later learn, would inspire a nation and help to resurrect the city he was elected to lead. Derived from a publishers weekly article: This book from New York's beloved former mayor opens with a gripping account of Giuliani's immediate reaction to the September 11 attacks, including a narrow escape from the original crisis command headquarters, and closes with the efforts to address the aftermath during his remaining four months in office. But, he argues, he did not suddenly become a great leader on September 11, and "had been doing [my] best to take on challenges my whole career." The bulk of the book draws on his experiences as a corporate lawyer and U.S. attorney and then as mayor. The leadership principles he champions—preparation, accountability and strong self-definition chief among them—come as no surprise, but the stories he uses as examples are filled with vivid scenes and organized with a veteran trial lawyer's flair for maximum effect. Apart from a few childhood anecdotes, he shies away from his personal life and recalls his abandoned Senate campaign against Hillary Clinton only as one factor in his decisions about dealing with prostate cancer. Throughout, he displays the hands-on management that marked his administration, including his willingness to respond swiftly and in person to crises, to prove that he could be relied on when the city needed him most. While some critics found his style too aggressive, he has an effective counterargument: "Before September 11, there were those who said we were being overly concerned [about security]," he observes. "We didn't hear that afterwards."