Giuliani discusses leadership during Las Vegas speech

Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2005 | 10 a.m.

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told a Las Vegas audience Tuesday that "relentless preparation" was one of the six principles of leadership that helped him get his city through the crisis of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Giuliani made his comments before several thousand people attending the Get Motivated Seminar -- a business event intended to increase productivity and earnings -- at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"Life presents crises," said Giuliani, a former New York attorney general and U.S. deputy attorney general who was elected mayor of New York City in 1993 and relected in 1997.

"Should we be afraid of future terrorist attacks? Yes, we should be afraid. What do we do with that fear? We don't let it stop us from going forward with our lives. We prepare to reduce risk. We prepare for what they might do to us to stop it ... or respond to it."

Giuliani, who has been mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for president, made no comments about the current administration's handling of emergency efforts after hurricanes along the Gulf Coast.

But Giuliani, during his 40-minute speech, give a stirring recollection of the events that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center four years ago.

"I rushed there and could see that it was much worse than anybody (initially) thought," Giuliani said, noting he was told by aides to constantly look up for falling debris and did so only to witness a man leap from the 102nd floor "to avoid the terrible flames.

"I turned to the police commissioner and said, 'We are in unchartered territory. We have no plan. We have to make up one.' "

But Giuliani said that as he started making up a plan, he realized most or all of his decisions were based on numerous other plans in the event of terrorist attacks, airplane crashes, etc., that he and his subordinates had gone over time and time again before the tragedy.

"Relentless preparation is a principle of leadership," Giuliani told the audience. "Anything you practice you will do better."

Giuliani's other five points of leadership were: Have a set of beliefs and goals; be an optimist, have courage, practice teamwork and communicate your ideas.

Giuliani, who today operates a New York consulting firm, defined courage as "the presence of fear and overcoming it."

In all, eight motivators delievered speeches during the daylong event hosted by the Tampa, Fla.,-based Get Motivated Seminars Inc. They included magazine mogul Steve Forbes, former NFL quarterback Joe Montana and 79-year-old legendary comedian Jerry Lewis.

Lewis, a longtime Las Vegas resident, warmed up the audience for Giuliani with a half-hour, stand-up routine that at times included politically incorrect jokes that received heavy laughter.

Lewis, who has helped raised millions of dollars for Muscular Dystrophy through his annual Labor Day telethons, acknowledged that his old material that included Chinese and Polish jokes is questionable by today's more sensitive standards, admitting to the crowd: "I get paid for what most kids get punished for."