can also be viewed systemically. Above all, I find this tool interesting because it
allows us to combine hard and soft factors of corporate leadership. An old adage
says: “If you know nothing about your destination, every path will look the same.”
Allow me to begin with an example: in his 2002 book “Leadership,” former New
York mayor Rudolph Giuliani describes how he led and shaped the ungovernable
city for nearly 8 years (see Giuliani 2002). Giuliani has been known worldwide
based on his decisive action after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
In his autobiography he lists a number of guiding principles that were important to
him. Some of them would seem banal:
Deal with first things first.
Prepare relentlessly.
Everyone is accountable all of the time.
Surround yourself with great people.
Promise little and deliver much.
These books are always naturally full of self-congratulation and justification.
Still, by his personal example and through numerous anecdotes we can see the
conflicting areas executives are often moving in. I found it particularly interesting
that Giuliani had a sign with the words “I am responsible” put on his desk to
constantly remind him of his own fundamental belief.
Literally, Giuliani writes, “Throughout my career I have stressed that account-
ability and responsibility are the cornerstones of any activity in public administra-
tion and that my administration owes accountability to those for whom we work.
And this principle starts with myself.”(Giuliani 2002, p. 88)
And Giuliani can be proud of the final balance – something that many top
executives who write autobiographies cannot claim. Above all, what he achieved
for the public safety of New York is worth mentioning: between 1994 and 2001
crime rates decreased by 57%. Breaking down this figure, murders were down by
66%, shootings by 75%, and car thefts fell by 68%. At the same time, the average
time between an emergency call and the arrival of the police was reduced from
8.4 to 7.3 min.
Why do I describe all this in such detail? Because here two basic principles of
objective agreements can be recognized very well. First, it is important that the
correct criteria and metrics are used. Otherwise you produce endless statistics that
aren’t good for anything – except for those who maintain these data columns and
thus secure their jobs. For the citizens of New York what is important is that they
can now actually live more safely. The fact that the authorities previously measured
their success by the number of arrests (instead of the actual decline of crime) is just
another interesting anecdote described by the author. Second, Giuliani, who during
his time in office also had his fair share of enemies, implemented these criteria and
metrics consistently and enforced them. He himself was the constant initiator and
the critical spirit. In short: if the leadership “takes it easy,” this signal will rapidly
spread, and the whole system will once more be called into question.
Another view on the issue of objective agreements is provided by Reinhard
K. Sprenger. He describes them as “trust prosthetics” and sees them as an
226 4 More Than Just Talking or: The Instruments of Systemic Leadership