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Advice For Bohol Mayors
By Atty. Koykoy T. Lim
Published: December 10, 2006 by The Bohol Standard

A previous edition of Newsweek magazine had highlighted former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s principles on leading and managing a city. Guiliani’s words are gem of wisdom that can help mayors in cities and in towns navigate the present and the future.

Guiliani is worthy to be listened to because his capacity as mayor of the city that never sleeps came under ultimate test during the 9/11 tragedy.

Read on, especially mayors, future mayors, and ex-mayors. And voters.

The former New York City Mayor opened his article with these lines: “No set of general rules can substitute for the specific, detailed knowledge of a city that a mayor must bring to the job. Nevertheless, there are certain principles of leadership that apply to the challenges any mayor will face.”

He is saying that every city (or town) is unique in its own that a general rule may not be applicable to a specific, current situation of a particular place. For instance, a helmet policy may sound good but it’s not necessary to be imposed on small localities.

“Smart small with success,” Guiliani said.

“When taking a leadership role, try to achieve a clear, decisive victory as early as possible.”

“Aim to solve a problem small enough that it’s easily understood and yields an unambiguous solution.”

Guiliani advised that a mayor should fix a problem, no matter how small it is, and that the solution applied has to be clear to all parties. And the result?

“This gives people hope, and let’s one’s constituents, employees and critics know that action and positive change are more than just rhetoric,” he said.

All the blah, blah of a mayor is useless if it is not converted into action – an action that delivers clear results.

Another principle Guiliani had shared with us is this: “Develop and communicate strong beliefs.”

He explained that “great leaders lead by ideas.”

“Ideology is enormously important when running any large organization.”

“Developing strong beliefs is more than a simple suggestion – it’s an obligation. The people who work for you, those who look to you for answers, the media, even your rivals have a right to know how you see the world.”

This simply tells us that if you are a public official, you have to communicate to all sectors, so everybody would know what you’re really trying to accomplish.

Guiliani, however, gives a word of caution on this parameter. He pointed out:

“Strong beliefs can be risky in politics. That’s because a politician who makes his beliefs known takes two major gambles: that the goals stemming from his beliefs cannot be achieved – in which case he’ll be called a failure – and that many voters will disagree.

“But leadership isn’t about succeeding on every single initiative, nor about building consensus behind every action.”

If you know exactly that what you’re doing is for the best interest of the public, soliciting popular opinion is not a necessary ingredient to the success of your initiated course of action.

“Prepare relentlessly.” This is Mayor Guiliani’s last gem of wisdom.

“The great advantage of relentless preparation is that it prepares you not only for those disasters you anticipate, but for those you don’t,” he said.

“In New York City, we did not imagine that airliners would be commandeered and turned into guided missiles. But the fact that we practiced for other disasters prepared us to handle a catastrophe that nobody envisioned,” Guiliani recounted his 9/11 experience.

Every public official has to be forward-looking, and should not be afraid to imagine the unimaginable.

Before the 2005 Mabini pesticide poisoning that claimed 29 children, the first tragedy of its kind in Philippine history, nobody had ever thought about it that it could happen in Bohol. But it did happen.

It is always best to expect the unexpected.

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