|
| Volume 29 Number 7 |
May / June 2004 |
The Honorable Rudolph Giuliani Visits Houston
by Lynne Barends, Councilor
In a downtown Houston Hotel, at a mid-morning meeting on April 30, 2004,
The Honorable Rudolph Giuliani stepped onstage as the crowd stood up and
applauded. The audience of over 1000 attendees included members of local
and national businesses and representatives from various organizations and
the local academic community.
In a throaty voice he uttered, "I'm glad you all could come to the meeting of
the families," and right away broke the ice. He asked, "Do you believe that
America is more dangerous now, than before September 11?" He explained,
"While terrorism existed long before September 11, it was after September
11, when America began to take terrorism seriously." He further emphasized
that while people with similar values can negotiate and reach a compromise,
this cannot be accomplished with terrorists, who do not have the same values,
and furthermore, should not be given the opportunity to perpetuate through
the negotiation process. One key to fight terrorism, he added, is to take
away the money and resources, thereby weakening terrorism.
Published in 2002, Giuliani's book, "Leadership" is the New York Mayor's
account of the September 11, 2001 tragedy and the leadership qualities that
prevailed, while leading the people of New York through the aftermath of
the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. In this book, Giuliani talks about
the influences that great people have on our lives and discusses the six
principles of a great leader.
He begins with the first and foremost principle, "strong beliefs," and
talks about how a leader is always in search of what is most important. He
cites Ronald Reagan, who spoke of his beliefs, even at a time when they were
unpopular, Winston Churchill during World War II, and Martin Luther King,
Jr., who had a dream.
To illustrate another principle of a great leader, "optimism," Giuliani
walks over to the podium, holds down his head and says, "Things are really
bad, and there is no hope." He then looks up, smiles and waves his arm for
those to follow toward his direction and says, "Follow me." "But who would
want to follow someone without hope"?
The principle, "courage," he describes, "is the management of fear and
that we all have fear." And in order to manage fear, however, one must
prepare for and anticipate outcomes based upon those fears. In essence,
we must face our fears order to find ways to overcome them. He reiterates,
"You cannot have courage, without fear."
Giuliani continues, "The fourth principle is relentless preparation." He tells
a short story about how a judge may prepare for hours, in order to perform
one hour of deliberation. He explains, "While we relentlessly prepare
for all that could happen and what questions need to be addressed that we
can possibly think of, we are then ready to deal with the unexpected. By
preparing, we are capable of providing the best possible answer within our
areas of expertise, to a given situation.
"Teamwork," he explains, "Is about knowing your weaknesses." Candidly he says
that "The first thing that anyone should do, when asked to lead anything is
to ask, what are my weakness"? Then they should find someone that can help
fill that gap to create a strong and balanced team. Teamwork and balance,
he adds are accomplished by hiring those with the expertise needed.
The sixth principle of "communication, is accomplished once all the
previous principles are successfully applied. This principle is about the
communication and the articulation of the overall goals and objectives
accomplished to people both internal and external. It is about identifying
if the right goals were originally required, or needed, and if they were
indeed met.
In the chapter titled, "Weddings Discretionary, Funerals Mandatory, he
explains, "My father taught me that while weddings are a big party and
everybody goes to them, it is at a funeral, when people are alone and need
you the most." And the last principle, he closes with, "Is to love and to
care about people, and leadership is about leading human beings."
"Americas Mayor"
During two terms as mayor of New York, Rudy Guiliani's ideas, management
and goal-driven style cut crime by 57 percent, welfare rolls by 50 percent,
and taxes by $2.5 billion while creating a record number of new jobs. With
his leadership, the city is once again a great place to live and one of the
world's most productive metropolises. But his toughest challenge had yet
to come. With the tragic events of September 11th, Guilliani had to draw on
his determination and leadership as never before. And what Americans and
the world alike witnessed was remarkable strength and stability at a time
of great uncertainty. During the crisis, he became, in essence, "Americas
Mayor." He calmed, consoled and reassured the public, while urging them to
return to their normal lives and not to let the terrorists achieve their
aim of disrupting life.
The Houston Forum
The Houston Forum is a totally independent nonprofit educational
organization. It is uniquely a Houston product. Our resources and vitality
are provided by Houstonians who realize this community's commitment to be open
to diverse ideas and the people of our world.
http://www.thehoustonforum.org
|
