It just doesn't happen. Leadership has to be taught, learned and developed. Since many of you may not have the opportunity to read this book I thought it would be beneficial to present a few of Mayor Guliani's ideas to you in short form. I have tried to follow the chapters in his book and present some key concepts for you to think about. I have also taken the liberty of slipping in some of my views of the concepts as they may relate to your life as a leader, now and in the future along with a couple examples. This is short and certainly only covers a very small part of the book. If you find these concepts interesting I am certain that "his honor" would appreciate you picking up a copy of the book at you local store.

Set the example. On the day of his inauguration as Mayor in 1990, Jan 1st, the Mayor spent a good part of the holiday visiting the police and fire stations thanking the public service people who had to work on New Years Day for their efforts and to show that he appreciated them. In essence he also worked that day. He established on day one of his term as mayor, a short daily meeting to go over what was going on in the city. Following the attack on September 11th, despite the still very hectic rescue and recovery operation, he held his daily meeting Sept 17th, (the first Monday of the next week following the 11th). Part of the meeting did include issues relating to the terrorist attack but stressing his message of continuing things as normally as possible the regular agenda items where included. He further set the example to his staff and the public that life needed to go on as normal as possible. This is sometimes referred to as leadership by walking around and being there.

Sweat the details. According to the Mayor, the devil is in the details. His philosophy, at first flies in the face of those who say don't micro manage. As you dig into his examples and ideas he isn't advocating micromanagement. What he advocates is knowing how your system works (or doesn't) and begin by fixing the small things. If you start with small successes you'll find that they have a snow ball effect. Fix enough small things and the big things start looking more manageable. I recently discussed a situation regarding a question about why a former cadet turned SM was complaining that cadets aren't as respectful as they were when he was a cadet. In visits to cadet units, my experience was that the units that stressed doing the small things right grew into units that had a lot of the big things going well. My "seat of the pants" observation meshes well with Mr. Giuliani's point of sweating the details. The funny thing is that the next step in this chain is that when you have things humming along pretty well you find that other people start sweating the small stuff and you don't have to concern yourself as much with them.

Set your schedule. His goal was to get as much work done in the first hour of work as possible. Once the day starts rolling issues that arise are often out of your control and they will set the schedule. How you do this is your choice, get in early, block out the first hour, start the day working from home so you can limit the office interruptions. You make the call. Staff meetings need to have an agenda with set times. Stick to your agenda and go back at the end or take the issue "off-line" from the normal staff meeting. Let the staff know they are always welcome to speak at the staff meetings but not required to.

Prepare relentlessly. A great first step when starting a new position is to talk to the folks who have held it before. Talk to the people who you report to and talk to the people who report to you. In order to prepare you need to know what is expected of you. Conversely the people who work for you need to know what you expect of them. As you start a project learn as much as you can about it. If it has been done before, what worked and what didn't. Understand the details needed to plan (you can delegate getting this done but you need to know generally what you want so your subordinate can ask you what you expect). Try to think things through and look at all problems that may pop up. Brainstorming is a good tool for this. Have a vision of what you are looking for, this requires you to think the ideas through. Once you have this tool in your bag of tricks, don't hesitate to give it to others.

Responsibility. On his desk was a small sign that read, "I'm Responsible". It is a leader's job to instill that theme into everyone that works for him. Included in this is that ultimately a leader is responsible to those he leads. It is a privilege to lead and you are responsible to do the best that you can do for those who put their trust in you. You should welcome being held accountable. It builds confidence in a leader to be willing to accept responsibility. This goes to validate the leadership concept of a leader accepting blame for things when they go wrong and not try and pass the buck to a subordinate. You will also find that it is much easier to build a case for subordinates to hold themselves to a higher standard if the boss holds himself to an even higher standard. We call this integrity and it is one of our Core Values.

Technology as a tool. In his book he sights several examples of inventing and/or using technology as a tool in leadership. The good news for cadet leaders is that in many cases they are learning about this stuff in school and are a lot less afraid of it than us old guys. For the old guys, technology is a tool just like a hammer is a tool. Computers and computer based technology shouldn't "run things" but just like a modern carpenter can use a pneumatic hammer (air nail gun) for improving efficiency and quality versus his predecessor who carried nails in a pouch and took four or five blows to drive each nail home, you should use these tools to improve how you do things. Being efficient often means more time to do other things, hopefully things that are more fun and a better use of your time. A course taught in power point can be taught over and over again and can be easily updated as things change. Don't be afraid of statistics as you gather your data using technology. They are indicators of what is working and more importantly of what is not working. Don't try and baffle others with numbers but don't be afraid of them. Graphs are a wonderful way to get your message across.

Do what's possible, try what's not. If something needs to be done step up and get it done. However, don't be afraid to try something that is a bit different. If you hear the phrase, we don't do things that way or we never tried that, perk up your ears and give it a shot. The phrase "thinking outside the box" gets used a lot today but just because it is tired doesn't mean it is a bad idea. If you are planning an activity and an advisor tells you that you can't do things a certain way, ask why; be respectful but don't fall into the trap. Use cadets, they have planned many great activities and gotten the OK to give something a try just because they asked. I was recently asked by a senior cadet who works with me at the Group level about a Group Encampment. Now Maryland is a pretty small state but after he gave me a quick briefing on his idea I told him to go ahead and start gathering some information on how we can do this. Don't fear what has never been done before.

Surround Yourself with Great People. Pick a staff of the best people that you can. Some leaders fear subordinates who seem to be gunning for their job. As long as the person has integrity and doesn't work to undermine you, I would welcome this guy with open arms. One of the first jobs of a new leader is to find and train your replacement. This may be the guy. How will you ever move up if there is no one to take your place, and don't you wish your replacement was as sharp as you are? Analyze strengths and weaknesses, including your own, and fill in the weakness gaps. Pick a staff that compliments one another and that can work together. Learn from other great teams. The unit across the city may have a great ES program; don't be afraid to borrow their program and don't be afraid to share your with others.

Reflect then decide. A leader needs to make thoughtful and good decisions, but mostly he needs to make decisions. Paralysis by analysis is a great phrase for those who study things to death but can't make up their minds. Choose, focus and finish. It is your job to get "expert" advice from every source possible. We mentioned earlier that you must be the guy with the "I'm Responsible" sign on your desk. Well, you are responsible to make the decision and even more it is your decision. Don't say I got bad advice, or I just followed the consensus of opinion of my advisory staff. You made the decision you own it. While making these weighty decisions you should be aware that most decisions are not black and white, good and evil. They are many shades of gray and multidimensional. Just do your best. They say that timing is everything and with decision sometimes you are working against the clock. Rudy's advice is to be ready to pull the trigger if time is short.

Underpromise and Overdeliver. Don't make promises that you can't keep. It would be great to double the size of your squadron in six months but it may not be realistic. Look at the facts that you know and make a realistic projection for your goals, if you exceed them then all the better. If you put your goals in writing, be expected to be held to the standard of meeting them. I am not saying you should sandbag your objectives, that is set goals easy to meet, knowing you will likely blow them out of the water. This will also undermine your success as a leader and cause others to suspect your ability to plan and forecast. Promise things only if you're certain you can deliver. A goal is not a promise but a promise is a promise and people remember when you break a promise.

Align Your Structure with Your Purpose. The structure of your unit is already defined by regulations. However, there is plenty of flexibility with regards to filling the manning table based on the mission you want to emphasize in your unit. Cadet units normally have a strong structure with a deputy for cadets, a leadership officer, and other slots needed to make the program work, specifically admin, testing, recruiting etc.. A senior squadron focused on the air mission will have a strong focus on air operations, maintenance, admin, safety, and training. This will also have the added advantage of giving people jobs that are needed and fulfilling for them. Members won't be sticking around for long if you give a job on the manning table that really has no purpose for your unit. Don't be afraid of using project officers to assist you in completing your mission. A lot of people are willing to work like a dog for a short period of time that has finite time frame. These same people ,may not be willing to sign on for a long term position. They also may discover how much they enjoy the job and following the project and be willing to take on a long term assignment. It goes without saying to always remember to say thanks, as loudly and publicly as you can.

Develop and communicate strong beliefs. Great leaders lead by ideas. Developing a strong belief in your core values and being able to show in action and words that you live by these beliefs will create an atmosphere that encourages your followers to follow their leader. Be warned, it can also make your life difficult and put you in situations where some people will not treat you too kindly. It is sometimes difficult to have beliefs that everyone doesn't agree with. Ask the Boy Scouts, they have a set of core beliefs that include a couple that do not follow what many in our society believe. They have suffered greatly in funding, marketing, and have lost some supporters who, while they believe in many of the values they don't agree in how the scouts run their organization. From a point of view of studying leadership, even if you don't agree with them you have to admire their ability to develop and communicate strong beliefs and their ability to stick to them. How each person develops their beliefs varies, but it is very much a function of your environment. We teach leadership but we also teach moral leadership. The US Air Force has a set of core values, integrity, excellence in all we do, and service before self. These ideas cross the boundaries of leadership and moral leadership. Your job as a leader is to live these beliefs but just as important communicate them to you followers. Your example of living these values, "walking the walk" will also communicate them to your followers but you must verbally teach them to your people.

Loyalty, The Vital Virtue. Sure, we all know that it is important for our followers to be loyal but what we sometimes forget is it is more important that you be loyal to your followers. You have to stick by them, even when they screw things up. Leaving someone hanging in the wind because they messed up or allowing them to take the fall when something goes wrong is the sign of a weak leader. People do screw up and sometimes they do have to pay a terrible price for their mistakes. Do what you can to be loyal to them but don't allow your integrity to be compromised. If others attack one of your followers be ready to embrace and support them even if it makes things tough for you. By doing this your other followers will see that you are a person of integrity and they will be much more willing to stand up for you even if it is risky for them. Knowing their boss is behind them and ready to put himself on the line for them will encourage them to take risks that they might otherwise not be willing to do, even if they think you're a great guy.

Study, Read, and Learn, Independently. Since you are reading this you obviously agree with part of this philosophy. Never stop trying to learn and improve yourself. Before you can teach others, you have to learn yourself. Take the time to explore many different concepts on how to do things, especially leadership. There are many different ways of doing things, just because I say you should do something a certain way, see what other people say and pick what works for you. We all have our unique style and by continuing to learn you will continue to develop as a leader. I make a point of taking management and leadership course as often as I can, normally several times a year. I read lots of different books on leadership and I even try and identify leadership ideas and traits in some of the fiction I read for pleasure. Some may think this is crazy but my career is as a manager and a leader. The more I learn the better I can do my job. Leadership is your job too.

When I delegate, I delegate. The bigger the job, the greater the need to find key people to delegate responsibility for tasks to. One of the hardest things as a leader is to let go and allow your subordinates to do what you have asked them to do. Avoid micromanaging the tasks, and be prepared to support the person whom you have given the job to. It is OK to ask for updates, in fact it the person doesn't have a lot of experience it is a good idea to establish a schedule for providing updates.

A CEO as a Leader. For those not familiar with the term, CEO stands for Chief Executive Officer. In many ways a Commander is a CEO. Taking it a step further as the CEO you are selling a product, namely you and your organization. Remember this when dealing with the public (that is almost anytime you deal with any body) your actions, your image, and your words are going to tell the world who and what you are. The will also reflect on the organization that has chosen you to be its leader.

Sometimes Add, Sometimes Subtract. Organizations and their structures have to be flexible to meet the demands of the world around them. They have to expand and contract to meet the needs of what is happening right now. Don't be afraid to make changes. Don't be afraid to bring in people from outside your core group to ramp up things if you need to do it. The alternative is either burning out your core people or not being effective. If you have grown to perform a task or mission and that task is done, thank those who helped you get the job done and don't keep a bloated staff around. People will get bored and complacent. Remember to be available to them if they need to talk.

Bribe Only Those Who Will Stay Bribed. What a great phrase! We are talking about a public figure and bribing people is of course, illegal and immoral. What he really means is as a leader you have to be prepared to make compromises and to incent people to do what you need them to do. Be careful to choose the right kind of people, those that are willing to work with you, but will keep their word and follow through on what they have agreed to do. Those who keep coming back to the well looking for another "bribe" should be avoided. You don't have to surround yourself with yes men, in fact you are better off having people with differing opinions as advisors, because they will tell you things that others won't because they know you don't want to hear them. In the immortal words of President Ronald Reagan, "Trust but verify".

I have tried to include items that will assist you in your leadership role in CAP. I have taken some concepts and ideas presented by the Mayor and tried to add examples and terms that you might run into in your everyday role as a leader in our organization. I hope you find it helpful and encourage to you go out and get a copy of the book for yourself.