Essay: Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani

Leadership by Rudolph W. Giuliani
Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani could be considered one of the better books for those looking to study up on management and interpersonal techniques. It showcases a man who came to hold his mayoral position at a time when New York City was in shambles. Rudolph carefully dictates his steps in building an effective team and guiding them towards impressive results.
First, Leadership starts with a turn by turn story of the events of September 11th. He personally takes us through the ways he minimized chaos, gathered his team, prioritized goals and planned to achieve those goals. The first chapter gives us the pinnacle of a lifetime of work leading and achieving. It shows us the climax of preparedness and poise, that the rest of the book explains. Leadership starts with the end-product and then gives us the steps to implement those ourselves.
Next, Giuliani gets into detail with his actions and the reasoning behind them. He shows us why we need to develop and communicate our beliefs, hold each other accountable, and prepare, prepare, prepare. Leadership showcases the importance of keeping everyone on the same page and not letting underperformance slide. Giuliani, shows us why we should sweat the small stuff. When he took office, the city had record high crime. He started at the bottom, with low level crime and reaped dividends in reduced crime once people knew they could not get away with it. Whether managing a small firm, or managing the nation’s largest city, these steps apply to all management.
Furthermore, Leadership should be a must read for all low to executive level managers. Accountability, preparation, not assuming anything, being your own man, holding yourself ultimately responsible, viewing problems yourself and developing your own perspective are applicable in everyday life.
Accountability is paramount. Throughout the book, leadership details his meetings with commissioners and officials and his consistent follow through to attain goals. This is extremely applicable to the course concepts, because if we cannot hold our coworkers or employees to a certain standard then we will not find ourselves managing much at all. However, if we state our goals and plan from the start, we can use these as sounding boards against results. If it does not work, we can adapt and try again.
Rudolph, even though it was not explicitly stated, had steps to implement SMART goals. He met with the experts, discussed and educated himself upon the issues and implemented proven systems to deliver measurable results. Now, discussing goals today and asking for follow up news tomorrow may not be applicable across all industries due to work load and time constraints, however if you establish a reasonable timeline and measurable results. We can cut straight to the real issues within our departments. Whether it is complacency within lower-level management/employees or an extraordinary event outside of that units control, we can find the real issues and implement plans to solve them.
Next, establishing and communicating strong beliefs is a point, that most managers struggling to reach effectiveness and efficiency fall short on. Without strong beliefs and communication, our subordinates will not know or understand how we want them to act in compromising or high-stress situations. However, if we prepare for every foreseeable eventuality our subordinate managers and employees will see those values and beliefs and know exactly how to act. This creates cohesiveness throughout the company and can streamline work efficiency. If the people left under our control do not have to come to us, with every issue or problem, but instead act on the knowledge we have communicated, it leaves us as managers free to focus on the bigger picture and avoid micro-management.
At the start, I had a preconceived notion of managers. That they were people who called the shots, and were a bit disconnected from the boots on the ground. This stemmed mainly from previous work in a few companies with ineffective leadership. It seemed that the goals of the managers, and the realistic level of output workers could attain were off. It did make me formulate my own ideas about management and wish to implement them one day though.
This book gave me a window into one of the most effective leaders, confirmed some of my better ideas and picked apart the weaker ideas I had conjured up. It showed me that management should be more organic than I had previously thought. Especially with lower level managers. It taught me effective techniques to follow up with my subordinates and pointed me in the direction of systems to attain measurable goals. If I could implement the same systems Giuliani did with the NYPD, and corrections facilities, I believe I can achieve higher goals for my upcoming assistant manager position. Our main issue across the board in my upcoming position is worker complacency, leaving things to the way they have always been done, and not holding people truly accountable. Even though it is my first management position, if I can come in firing with adapted models for accountability and performance ratings then I will make a name for myself.
Finally, and most importantly, this book taught me preparedness. I have been and still am a major procrastinator. I find myself complacent in achieving my own goals which leads to my own inefficiency. The steps in this book on preparedness, however struck a chord with me, to self-motivate and get the job done. I found myself assuming many things in my daily life that was not always set in stone. Taking the extra time out of my day to face problems I had not foreseen and correct them led to more time micro-managing than working on attaining my own goals. If I can take away one thing from this book it is that I have a long way to go, in becoming an efficient leader, one who people respect and admire for getting the job done, who is ready for all the outcomes and can successfully lead my company into the future.