Giuliani lists leadership principles, personal goals
By Sarah McClellan
Photo Editor

FORT WORTH — Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani gained some knowledge of western wear Monday night when Tim Carter, president of Harris Methodist Health Foundation, showed him how to wear a cowboy hat.

But the Texans learned far more than the New Yorker at the Bass Hall when Giuliani told a Fort Worth crowd about his book, “Leadership,” which outlines the leadership skills that helped guide him through personal and national crisis.

Giuliani said he began his book when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He finished it after the Sept. 11 attacks and said his leadership skills helped him through the cancer and the attacks, as well his two major goals while he was mayor of New York City, which were to lower the crime rate and boost the economy.

His speech was broken down into his “leadership principles.” The first one is to have a set of beliefs.

“You have to know what you believe,” Giuliani said. “And you have to know how much you want to sacrifice for (that belief) to preserve it. If you don’t have that, you can’t lead yourself or others.”

The second principle outlined was optimism. Giuliani drew on historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Winston Churchill to illustrate how optimism affects leadership.
Another principle, Giuliani said, is courage.

He said people tend to equate courage with the absence of fear, but in reality almost everyone is courageous.

“A firefighter who walks into a fire and pulls someone out without fear is not courageous — he’s insane,” Giuliani said. “He’s learned to manage his fear to do what he is trained to do.”

The other principles of leadership he mentioned are relentless preparation, teamwork and loyalty, which he said was the most important.

“You’ve gotta be there for other people if you want them to be there for you,” Giuliani said.

In the question and answer session, Giuliani told the audience that his favorite books are the Bible and “The Godfather” and, despite his busy schedule, he will run for political office again someday.

Sarah McClellan