Review
The world is full of leadership manuals but few are as dramatic and spectacular as this one. Rudolph W Giuliani became Mayor of New York City in 1993 and was re-elected in 1997, reducing crime in the city with his policy of zero tolerance and running the city along business principles, with all its parts accountable, its practices measurable. His achievement was already notable. But this major local figure became world famous on September 11 2001 after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. Giuliani eclipsed his nation's President as a leader of renown. Most of this book had already been written by the time of the attacks and, as Giuliani points out, that day did not change him but, rather, required him to demonstrate, in the glare of the world's media, leadership principles he had already established. Giuliani sets out his method clearly: surround yourself with great people, have strong beliefs and communicate them, set an example, stand up to bullies, prepare, underpromise, overdeliver. 'And, of course,' he starkly acknowledges, 'the importance of funerals.' These precepts form the central 14 chapters of the book, which also offer Giuliani the opportunity to reflect on US politics through the 1990s. Giuliani uses the events of 11 September to bookend these main arguments. His opening chapter carefully details the events of that tragic day, while the final part deals with the longer term aftermath, his city's recovery from disaster. 'Leadership,' Giuliani insists, 'does not simply happen. It can be taught, learned, developed.' But this book is more than a tutorial. It's also about Giuliani's very personal reactions. And yet the close descriptions stop short of being mawkish. Instead, the tracing of Giuliani's thought processes as he comes to term with his ground-level responsibilities is both controlled and vivid. What could easily have seemed opportunistic is in fact illuminating testimony, and a lasting contribution to civic remembrance. (Kirkus UK)
Product Description
The minutes and hours following 11th September terror attacks on the World Trade Center posed the greatest challenge to governance in New York City's history. Mayor Rudoph Guiliani had barely escaped with his life in the collapse of the first tower. Fires burned furiously near the site as the other buildings verged on collapse. Air Force fighter jets criss-crossed the sky to ward off other attacks. And yet in those moments after the calamity, and in the following days and months, Mayor Guiliani not only steered the city through the crisis, but did so with an assurance and authority that was hailed around the world as a model of courageous leadership. In this book, Guiliani describes vividly the chaos and horror of the twin-towers catastrophe, and explains how the rules of management he enforced as Mayor enabled him to gain control of the emergency. These are also the rules, Guiliani makes clear, that anyone in a leadership position - from the head of a large corporation to the owner of a corner shop - can use to inspire others and achieve concrete results.
by Lee Iacocca
by Stephen R. Covey
