Rudy Giuliani Addresses VARBusiness 500 Crowd

Addressing the cream of solution-provider leadership, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani offered his own leadership insights at Tuesday night's VARBusiness 500 Awards dinner. Speaking to an overflowing crowd at New York City's Rainbow Room, Giuliani argued that leaders are made, not born, and that leadership is a quality one can work to acquire.

Widely credited for his own leadership managing New York City in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks, Giuliani spelled out a number of qualities required in a leader. Along the way, he cited a number of individuals who exemplified leadership, including Presidents Reagan and George W. Bush, football coach Vince Lombardi, individual firefighters he'd met and his own father.

Giuliani's first principle is to "know what you believe" and what goals you're trying to achieve. Without that vision, even the most capable people will be "tossed around every day" by events. Coupled with those principles, a leader must embody optimism, envisioning and expecting success. Giuliani parodied a pessimistic manager: "Folks, things are bad. They're bad, and they're only going to get worse. Follow me!" Instead, he suggested people are more likely to follow hope, dreams and optimism.

Courage, and the ability to take risks, was Guiliani's third leadership value. He spoke about firefighters who are able to enter burning buildings to rescue people but are unable to talk to reporters about it afterward. They are able to take on the far more dangerous task, not from fearlessness, but because they used their fear as a motivator in their training to handle just such a situation.

"I'm a big believer in relentless preparation," Guiliani continued, introducing his next point, which advocates the anticipation of emergencies and rehearsing responses to them over and over. One of his first bosses, U.S. Judge Lloyd F. McMahon, always stressed to his law clerks that "for each hour in court, you need to prepare for four hours. You'll still be surprised by what happens, but you'll be ready."

It was here that Guiliani began discussing his experiences during 9/11. In dramatic fashion, Guiliani described heading toward the scene of what he initially thought to be a small airplane accident, only to realize that passenger planes were being used as "missiles" to attack the city.

"We don't have a plan for this," he recalled saying to his police and fire commissioners. But as the rescue operations began, Giuliani realized the decisions he was making were based on existing plans that the city's emergency management teams had be prepared for: fires, hazardous materials accidents, crowd situations and emergency medical triage. Giuliani said he was confident in his decisions, as well as confident that "the people I was communicating the plans to knew exactly what I meant and what to do."

The next mark of a leader is the ability to put together a good team. "Whatever you're doing, you'll have strengths and weaknesses," Guiliani said, recommending one ask of himself: "What are my weaknesses, and who do I need to add to my team to balance my weaknesses?"

Ultimately, "you have to love people" to be a good leader. Be willing to spend time with your team, communicating your vision, motivating and teaching, he advised, and support them when things are going wrong. "Weddings are optional, but funerals are mandatory," Guiliani quoted his own father as saying. "Be there for your people, and they'll be there for you."

In the very first question near the close of his talk, Guiliani was asked if the audience "was looking at the next president." Guiliani brushed aside the question, saying "God knows..." and that it was too early for him to decide if he would run. Guiliani did decry some of the partisanship in modern politics, noting, "We could move to the next level if we could figure out how to have these debates without demonizing each other."