Rudy Giuliani - America's Mayor

Love him or hate him, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani literally wrote the book on Leadership (well… he wrote A book on leadership). There is no doubt Giuliani is divisive and polarizing. He has said some truly outrageous things in the media in the last few years and has made some serious political blunders.

Despite his controversy, there is also no doubt the man can lead. He became the face and voice of America following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Under his leadership, the city of New York healed, recovered, and bounced back to its former glory. So too did America, following the lead of Mayor Giuliani. Less well-known (and certainly overshadowed by his 9/11 leadership) is the transformation he created in the City of New York when he took office nearly 8 years before the attacks.

Continuing to highlight exemplary leaders in the public sector, this week’s blog entry will tell the story of Rudy Giuliani and the type of leadership he employed as the chief executive of New York both before and after 9/11.

Biography of Mayor Rudy Giuliani (also see his official bio on the NYC website here)  

Giuliani’s initial public sector career roles were those of Associate US Attorney-General and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. In these very public positions, he prosecuted the high-profile cases of known mafia kingpins as well as Wall Street criminals, Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken. The notoriety he received from these case propelled his political career leading to his election as Mayor of New York City in 1994.

When he took office, New York City had a major crime problem, unemployment was more than 10%, and 1 in 7 New Yorkers was on welfare. Giuliani ran on a platform of reforming the City of New York by being tough on crime and enhancing the quality of life for all New Yorkers through economic growth. In the years following his election, overall crime was down 57% and the murder rate had been reduced by 65%. These crime reductions led the FBI to name New York City as the safest large city in America for five years in a row.

Unemployment in New York City also dropped from 10.4% to 5% under Mayor Giuliani’s administration. In addition, personal income rose by 50%, city budget deficits were turned into surpluses, taxes were cut, and 640,000 people left public assistance and returned to the workforce.

And then came September 11. As chief executive of the city at the center of the most infamous terror attack in history, Giuliani became the most famous face in America. Countless cameras caught him on the front lines with the first responders as the towers burned. He was there when the towers fell; for the funerals and memorials; for the recovery; and for the rebuilding. 

Through it all, he reflected the emotions of New Yorkers and America: anger, betrayal, sorrow, compassion, courage, and resilience.

Though he was the elected leader of New York, Giuliani emerged as a leader for the rest of America. We all looked to him for strength, meaning, and purpose to move forward. He set the example that day and provided a unifying goal for all of New York and America:

“The city is going to survive, we are going to get through it, it’s going to be a very, very difficult time…but the thing we have to focus on now is getting this city through this, and surviving and being stronger for it.”  - NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Leadership Styles of Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Giuliani exhibited classic leadership traits during this time as New York City Mayor which offer real-world lessons to those of us in the public sector. Giuliani appeared to be very adept at modifying his leadership style to fit specific situations. Prior to 9/11, his behavioral approach to leadership would be categorized as an authority-compliance approach as outlined by Northouse (2015). This approach is primarily concerned with goal attainment with little regard for the human element. Giuliani was ruthlessly preoccupied with reducing crime in the City after he took office and directed much of his attention and the City’s resources towards that end. Many biographies of Giuliani suggest he was very authoritarian during this period – bossy, overbearing, and demanding. But he accomplished his goals as noted. Furthermore, the citizens – his followers – may not have loved his style, but they reelected him. For these reasons, he was a successful leader.

This style also has elements of the directive approach of the path-goal theory of leadership (Northouse. 2015). Similar to the authority-compliance style, a directive leader sets clear goals and expectations of performance and provides instructions and timelines when it is to be completed by the followers. Again, when Giuliani said he would reduce crime in the City, he set goals of prosecuting all crimes including panhandling, graffiti, jaywalking, and street beggars washing car windows. He provided timelines and clear expectations to get it done. The reasoning behind arresting for even the smallest crimes is that it acts as a deterrent for larger crimes (the Mayor’s policy of arresting for even small crimes is derived from the “Broken WindowTheory” by Wilson and Kelling (1982).

Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Mayor Giuliani adapted his style to a more supportive approach. He concentrated on the well-being of his followers, which included the heroes of the public sector – the police, fire, EMTs and other first responders – as well as the citizens of New York. He showed them support and strength and lifted their morale. In doing so, he managed to maintain optimism in the face of immeasurable pain and loss, and kept everyone working together toward rebuilding the City.

Giuliani’s Leadership Principles

I had the pleasure of listening to Mayor Giuliani give the keynote speech at a conference I attended a few years back on the subject of leadership. I recorded his speech on my iPhone and I just listened to it over again for this blog entry. Giuliani outlines a number of core principles he says are instrumental for any leadership role. Among these are: strong beliefs – belief in oneself and belief in the goals one sets; optimism – a willingness to not accept things as they are, but fighting to make things better; courage – to take risks and possibly fail; and preparation – prepare for everything imaginable and you will be ready for the unthinkable. These principles and others are also found in Giuliani’s best-selling book, Leadership.

A Note in Closing

While I don’t agree with everything Mayor Giuliani has said or done over the course of his career, I found his leadership during the 9/11 attacks to be inspirational and with lessons for public leaders. For many of us in leadership positions in the public sector, a crisis can have a major impact on a community. Citizens must feel they can trust their government is acting in their best interest to keep them safe. For a utility manager like myself, a water main break, a contamination outbreak, or natural gas explosion will quickly cause the public to lose trust in its public sector leaders. When riots and looting happen in major cities, the public looks to the Mayor and law enforcement personnel to maintain order, keep them safe, and protect their property. In times of crisis, "a leader must speak with a trusted voice and sketch honestly the painful steps to safety" (Powell, 2007).

As leaders we need to convey calm, confidence, and have the know-how and ability to restore the public’s trust. That does not happen without preparing oneself to lead amidst an emergency. If nothing else, we can learn from Giuliani’s example and the examples of numerous other great public sector leaders.

Rudy Giuliani's book, Leadership, can be found on Amazon and many other great bookstores.