Get Motivated! Series: Rudy Giuliani
This is the second entry in my Get Motivated! series drawn from a conference I recently attended featuring Colin Powell, Suze Orman and Rudy Giuliani, among others. Read the first entry about Suze Orman’s speech here; otherwise, see below to learn Rudy Giuliani’s advice on leadership.
Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City
Get Motivated!: Increase your Ability to be a Leader
Known as America’s mayor, voted Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” and the reassuring face behind the recovery efforts on 9/11, who better to speak about being a leader than Rudy Giuliani? I’ll be honest, I had to put aside my personal feelings during this session because Giuliani publicly cheated on his wife (the mother of his two daughters) and I have a hard time respecting someone who would do such a thing.
That said, he is probably one of the country’s most recognizable leaders and an authority on how to get people to follow you, even in the most difficult of circumstances. Here are his 6 tips for increasing your ability to be a leader:
1) Know what you Believe: Be grounded in a set of beliefs, not because they’re popular but because it’s what you truly believe is right. His examples were Ronald Reagan – who adamently believed communist China was evil and needed to be destroyed – and Martin Luther King.
2) Be an Optimist: If you were going into a tough situation, would you follow the person who had an attitude of already being defeated or the person who was realistic, but hopeful and encouraging? If you’re like me, you’d choose the latter. People don’t want to follow a pessimist, so in your quest to be a leader, be truthful about the challenges facing your team but also offer and ask for possible solutions.
3) Have Courage: People gravitate toward the person who remains calm and focused in the face of adversity. Inside, they may be shaking, but their outward appearance provides reassurance and encourages others to follow them. In addition, be aware that bravery is realizing the risk involved but still moving forward. If a person waits until they know for certain they will not fail, is that true courage? Not according to Rudy.
4) Prepare Relentlessly: Be willing to take risk, but reduce it by practicing so that you can handle any situation that might arise. Giuliani acknowledged that even if you try to anticipate everything, the unexpected can still occur. For example, he spoke about the crisis plans they’d prepared for New York City prior to 9/11, everything from citywide blackouts to building collapses to mass evacuations. While they never contemplated something on the scale of 9/11, they were able to quickly piece together the existing crises plans to address the most pressing needs on that horrible day.
5) Understand the Value of Teamwork: Even if you are the most respected leader, you have weaknesses. Rather than try to hide this fact, acknowledge it by surrounding yourself with people who have strengths that complement your weaknesses.
6) Love People: Be present in the personal/professional lives of those you lead. Seeing a leader share the risk motivates people to set aside their own fear and to think of others. Immediately after 9/11, President Bush flew to New York to tour Ground Zero despite the fact secret service advised him it was too dangerous. After staying for several hours at the site, he drove downtown as crowds on both sides of the street cheered on the motorcade. Today they would probably boo the car or worse, throw things, but on that day his empathy and willingness to risk personal injury made him a leader they could respect.
Next up: Rick Beluzzo, former President and CEO of Microsoft
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