The Rudy Giuliani way to do things still holds true

When he was Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani would gather together his team of city officers at 8am to set out tough targets for the day ahead. His daily briefing identified clear goals which had to be achieved, and his often controversial zero-tolerance programme was ultimately responsible for bringing a huge reduction in crime.

One of the most noticeable results of Giuliani’s work was in turning Times Square, a place previously known for seediness and urban decay, where people feared going after dark, into a thriving, family-friendly tourist hot spot. Never a man to suffer fools gladly, his tactics were sometimes seen as contentious, and critics have said that he became a more influential politician than perhaps any administrator of a single city possibly deserved to be.

His book “Leadership” is a good read and has been described as a how-to guide for modern politicians and executives in the business world. Through the chapters, he identifies leadership qualities and philosophies which guided him through his career as a lawyer, businessman and politician, and there is much to glean for any corporate CEO, good and bad.

Some of his guiding principles were to surround himself with great people, start each day with a clear plan designed to bring results, and under-promise and over-deliver. He also placed a major emphasis on loyalty and, setting out to run the city as a business, Giuliani, worked at a furious pace, taking not a single weekend off in his first year.

The team he built around him, like any team in the business world, were only as good they were allowed to be, and successful leaders in the corporate world take the same steps to get the best out of their people.

That means engaging them, getting to know them, and, most importantly, finding ways to encourage their feedback, overcoming the fear factor which can filter out vital information when an individual feels they know something their boss doesn’t want to hear.

Business leaders can stumble into pitfalls in the treatment of their staff and the development of their team. And the key is to recognise these factors quickly and take prompt action to remedy the problem.

In frenetic business environments like we have in Dubai, it’s common for employees to be overworked, particularly in start-ups, and for their contributions and best work to go unrecognised and rewarded.

Often, the wrong people are hired and later promoted, and more deserving individuals are neglected, see opportunities to develop their skills and their careers pass them by, become stagnant, and leave.

Research suggests that more than half of people who leave their jobs do so because of a poor relationship with their boss. Alert and progressive business leaders understand this, and make sure they don’t lose the respect, trust and confidence of their team.

One of the biggest mistakes a company boss can make is to fail to develop the members of their team and leave this up to the HR department.

Others see it as a responsibility which sits fits fairly and squarely on their shoulders and make sure that all our brightest talents are constantly challenged, driven to develop their abilities, and never become complacent nor disillusioned.

A vital part of the team-building process for any business leader is to make sure individuals are encouraged to bring out and develop their creative instincts. If this doesn’t happen their job becomes routine, their contribution is limited and opportunities for themselves and the company are lost.

Many of my most successful contemporaries challenge their employees intellectually, and push them to achieve new goals, even if these might at first seem out of reach.

At the same time they are committed to letting their people pursue their passions, and that means taking the time and having the patience to listening carefully to what they say, think and what they desire in their careers and in their working environment.

Sometimes, as a business leader, you need to be very thick-skinned and not allow some of the feedback to bother you, especially as you are the one who has been inviting complete openness. In any organisation, staff will form little cliques, and some people will have strong opinions on other individuals and express them.

Whether you’re the Mayor of New York or the boss of a medium sized company, you must know how to deal with those situations, whether it means jumping in quickly to settle the issue, or step back and not intervene.

Only experience allows you go get it right.

The writer is Head of PA Consulting Group, Middle East and North Africa. All opinions expressed are his own.