Rating: 
Summary: GREAT BOOK ABOUT A GREAT MAN
Review: These days its hard to look up to another man, or say someone is your hero, but 911 brought out the best in a lot of people. On 911 everyone witnessed Giuliani great leadership. But that is just a fraction of what Giuliani achieved during his tenure as NYC mayor. You talk about someone stepping up to the plate and doing the hard things, Giuliani delivered. Reading the book you wish he was still in some kind of public service. We need more guys like this.
Rating:
Summary: Leading from Principles
Review: Giuliani, with Ken Kurson, provides a number of rules by which he ran New York City: First Things First; Prepare Relentlessly; Everyone's Accountable, All of the Time; Surround Yourself with Great People; Reflect, Then Decide; Underpromise and Overdeliver; Develop and Communicate Strong Beliefs; Be Your Own Man; Loyalty: the Vital Virtue; Weddings Discretionary, Funerals Mandatory; Stand Up to Bullies; Study, Read, Learn Independently; Organize Around A Purpose; and Bribe Only Those Who Will Stay Bribed. The book is a narration of illustrations of the practice of these principles, and of the lessons in life he learned that led to them. The book is certainly a worthwhile read for anyone who will lead a large organization, but it also provides an interesting window into American politics. At various points he contrasts his behavior with members of the opposing party. A point I found particularly interesting was his discovery that when a US Attorney, and later as Mayor, he was the CEO of his organization. But as a political candidate he discovered that he could not act as the CEO of the campaign organization, but instead realized he had a full-time role as the product. I could think of other politicians who have not made the same discovery, that being the product is very different than being the person in charge. Another vignette illustrating a shortfall in the American culture is when Giuliani was new to politics and practicing public speaking with a seasoned political advisor. When asked for the reasons he supported education reform, he provided a succinct four-point argument, just as he would have in a courtroom. The coach told him that was a well-reasoned answer, but that he wouldn't get elected. Instead he was to answer it was because of his love of children. So that, as it was also true, is what he said. It is unfortunate that reason must be rejected for visceral motivations to dumb down enough to be attractive to the majority of the electorate. The book also provides Giuliani's perspective on the events and consequences of September 11, 2001. This is not the focus of the book, but there is enough here to be an important contribution to the historical record. Giuliani describes how he approached his battle with prostrate cancer, but provides little insight into the very public collapse of his marriage. While I certainly feel he is entitled to privacy, particularly in his own book, I felt he left unanswered the apparent conflict between his principle of loyalty and his leaving his wife. I'm sure he has an erudite position, but he doesn't share it with the reader. The book is of interest to a wide audience. You can't argue with success (and check out the appendices to recall the impact he had). Giuliani has a lot of worthwhile principles, lessons, and history inside of the well-crafted tome.
Rating: 
Summary: Good at the Fundamentals. Innovative? Not quite...
Review: Giuliani's "Leadership" is quite a good overall look at what it means to be a leader. It does not tread any innovative ground, but its biographical anecdotes give some insight into his life. One lesson I did glean from this book was the idea of the "morning meeting" and how done every day they can be an effective way of managing a cumbersome bureaucracy and ensuring everyone stays accountable. I would recommend this book to leaders just starting out, someone who wants an easy to digest review of the fundamentals of leadership, or anyone who is a fan of Giuliani the man.
Rating:
Summary: Character And Leadership, Perfect Together
Review: I have read Giuliani's book and found it to be inspiring. I wish him all the best of luck with the book and his new life. I also took the recommendations of a few previous readers and went on to read Norman Thomas Remick's West Point: Character Leadership Education...". It, indeed, was an easy, enjoyable, and very educational pleasure to read, just like Giuliani's, Leadership. It's a great follow-on to the Giuliani book. Both books demonstrate how character and leadership are perfect together. I would say people shouldn't miss reading either one.
Rating:
Summary: Managers! You will need this
Review: Rudy Giliani has changed the way I manage my team.
I applied his way of managing his team to my work.
I have changed a chaotic company from constantly missing deadline to a highly organized and functional company.
Although the way he mentioned is based on his work running a city, the idea is the same. If you listen carefully and extract the essense in his ideas, they can be appled to your day to day management practice.
After listening to Rudy's ideas, I thought to myself that if he can use what he talked about to run a city successfully, I think I can use it to run my team of 10 people.
I went ahead to use his ideas and had amazingly good results. I hope this tape will help you too.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart Leadership Insights
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book -- plenty of unusual (how he got rid of aggressive panhandlers masquerading as car windshield washers!) and insightful (why you should stand up to bullies, how he used computers to stop crime) lessons for both business leaders and public policy types. His excellent leadership post-9/11 aside (textbook crisis management), Giuliani deserves the credit for making NYC a livable city again (the drop in crime rates are staggering) and he shares a host of stories which I found relevant to my own business. Minimal gossip and lots of straightforward storytelling. Not a difficult read, either.
Rating:
Summary: Real Hero of Sept. 11 and Much More
Review: I'll never forget the man who truly led America on Sept. 11 -- Rudy. With George Bush hunkered down somewhere, it was Rudy who stood tall, spoke credibly of both grief and strength and rallied the American spirit. Others would attempt to do the same later, but Rudy was there first. Just as he was there during Reagan's go-go '80s when Wall Street swindlers thought they could get away with bilking millions of ordinary people. They learned otherwise when Rudy led them off in handcuffs. Guiliani is a true man-of-the-people who sometimes go against even his own political party to do what's right. This book shows us all how it's done.
Rating:
Summary: Key message: You can't manage what you don't measure
Review: Unlike the private sector, where the bottom line is "the bottom line", so much of what goes on in the government sector is unmeasured and therefore unmanaged. Spin is the stock in trade because without measurable results there is no concrete achievement to demostrate to the voting public. The most significant and enduring message of Rudi Guliani's experience as mayor of NYC is that by deciding what is important, measuring it, and monitoring performance on a regular basis, seemingly intractable problems can be solved. This is not a new message, but one that receives more lip service than real implementation, and by demonstrating that it can work in one of the most unmanagable government's in the world, Rudi shows once and for all that there is no excuse for political leaders anywhere not to follow his example...
Rating:
Summary: Good Examples of Time Honored Leadership Principles
Review: As a New Yorker I read this book because I really loved what Rudy did for the city. His courage really lifted the whole city. I was riveted by his account of the moments after the first plane struck one of the World Trade Center towers. As far as leadership goes, Rudy uses examples of his administration to illustrate his point. Having read plenty of leadership books I can say that while all of Rudy's points are solid, he doesn't tread on any new ground. Still, I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning how to deal with the administration of a big city like NY.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-Promotional Aggrandizing
Review: In my book, a genuine and great leader has absolutely no need to write a book on leadership. Leadership is demonstrated, not talked about.
| 
