Leadership - Rudolph Giuliani

This is one of the more interesting books on leadership, from a practitioner rather than an academic. Giuliani describes his style of leadership, and how he applied this to bring about change in New York. From communicating with all levels of his organisation and with external stakeholders, through establishing meaningful performance measurements to organising a new command centre during time of crisis, Giuliani explains how he did it, not just what he did. Giuliani’s fame grew from his handling of the 9/11 crisis and aftermath in New York, and this lays a part in the book. But he had done the hard work long before this, establishing his effective leadership style across the New York city agencies, so that he could call on the resources available to handle the crisis. The book has 9/11 as an introduction and ending, but mostly draws examples from other parts of his leadership of New York.

Giuliani opens by admitting his love of writing, and he has a easily readable style. Each chapter is titled with one of his leadership principles, and he then explores, develops and demonstrates this principle in action. Particularly for anyone leading a public sector organisation, this is highly recommended.