Rudy Guiliani on Leadership

I've been enjoying Rudy Giuliani's book, Leadership, quite a bit. Here are more great bits of wisdom from America's Mayor:

LOYALTY:

• Once you make a decision then your job is to present the facts in the light most likely to persuade.

EMBRACE THOSE WHO ARE ATTACKED:

• "When someone around me is unfairly attacked, I go out of my way to make that person more important. I spend more time with them, and if they are a member of my staff, I see if there's a way I can [praise] them or give a speech to show that person how cherished they are."
• Embracing those who are attacked reassures those who work for you and those you want to recruit. You won't abandon them. You won't betray them at the first sign of trouble. You remove the incentive to attack.
• People who work for you deserve the benefit of the doubt. If it turns out they're guilty, there will be time to hold them accountable. But if you abandon them at the first accusation and they're later exonerated, you'll never wash away the smell of betrayal.
• The principle of standing by those who are attacked is so important that you should deploy it even if your guy is wrong, so long as it was not illegal. You might have to take him to the woodshed in private; but that doesn't mean you should leave him hanging out to dry in front of everyone.
• It's not for a leader to give and receive loyalty. For loyalty to mean something it has to be established as a culture throughout the organization.
• It pays to stick with someone in the face of criticism. The devotion you'll earn by showing loyalty will last.

Joe