I am an unabashed student of leadership. My library probably has more books on leadership than any other subject, except perhaps firefighting. So imagine how I felt to be one of the fire-service members who recently were invited to hear former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani honor three first responders at a celebration sponsored by the Drake Center.

The Drake Center is a world-class rehabilitation hospital located literally a block outside of my city's southern border. The celebration honored Cincinnati (Ohio) Police Sergeant Bryce Bezdek, Lockland (Ohio) Police Officer Brandon Gehring and Hamilton (Ohio) Firefighter Chris Gabbard — all of whom sustained near-fatal injuries in the line of duty and beat all the odds to not only live, but also live highly productive lives.

Bezdek was injured when a fleeing felon lost control of her vehicle and crashed into him on Interstate 75. Gehring, the son of one of my firefighters, was struck in a separate incident on Interstate 75. He was deploying stop sticks when he was hit by a pursuing police cruiser. Gabbard was injured during training at a low-head dam when his department's rescue boat capsized, spilling him into the roiling waters below the dam. Gabbard was in the water for 26 minutes until his near-lifeless body was thrown downstream.

Gabbard and Gehring amazingly are back on the job; Bezdek is not, but now does motivational speaking.

Giuliani presented the keynote speech and received the Drake Center's 2010 Leadership Award.

Whether you like Giuliani as an individual or identify with his political views, you can't deny that he offered leadership and hope for the nation's largest city in its darkest hours following the attacks of Sept. 11. I was at Ground Zero a few days after the attack on the World Trade Center, and I was amazed at Giuliani's energy as he strode through the barricades to talk to groups of responders, thanking each individual personally for his or her aid in the search-and-rescue efforts. I will never forget his smiling face and warm handshake — and how he made our presence seem worthwhile amid the towering stacks of rubble.

I wasn't surprised that Giuliani authored a book called Leadership the following year. I read it while the impressions of the collapsed Twin Towers were still fresh in my mind. And it was in this context that I listened intently to his speech.

Giuliani loosely followed the outline of his book, breaking leadership into several easily understood values and using historic figures who excelled in these areas to demonstrate what we can achieve. His remarks reminded that leading volunteer and combination fire departments doesn't need to come from formal education or study; it needs to come from the principles of leadership that Giuliani outlined, as follows.

Strong conviction. Leaders need to have a firm grasp of who they are, where they are going, and what goals they wish to achieve before asking you to follow. Think about it — would you follow anyone who didn't believe in what they were doing, didn't convey confidence through knowledge and experience, especially when the path is unclear; and didn't systematically explain how they would (not probably, but unquestionably) achieve those goals?

That is not to say there won't be setbacks. President Franklin Roosevelt never wavered in his belief that the United States and its allies would be victorious in World War II — despite initially being unprepared and finding ourselves fighting on two major war fronts. His conviction gave the American people the confidence to pursue not just victory, but the unconditional surrender of Axis countries.

Optimism. Shortly before Sept. 11, Giuliani had purchased a biography of Winston Churchill. He turned to the chapter describing Churchill during the 1940 Battle of Britain — literally when Britain stood alone against the Nazis in Europe. He noted that Churchill gave a sense of hope to his people and retained a great sense of humor. Instead of letting the problem overwhelm him, Churchill looked for solutions. After reading that chapter, Giuliani felt he had a clearer idea of how he could help reinvigorate New Yorkers' spirits.

Courage. We all have fears. Courage is the strength to overcome those fears. Giuliani said that the ability to control fear stemmed from having confidence in your people and knowing that they will do what you ask them to do. The leader demonstrates this by being able to function clearly and calmly in any emergency.

I am going to insert my own definition of a leader: A leader is the one who can keep his head when all others are asking for it.

Relentless preparation. Giuliani talked about his own experience. His first term as mayor started shortly after the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. From that time, he watched the FDNY and NYPD relentlessly practice for every conceivable emergency — plane crashes, mass-casualty incidents, terrorist bombings, major fires and more. Giuliani developed an emergency management system that planned for each event to ensure that all of his first responders could be coordinated into a single cohesive group with clearly defined responsibilities.

In the minutes after the attack and the collapse of the first tower, Giuliani's fear started to overwhelm him. How could they deal with such calamity? Then it struck him that responders had prepared for each of these events separately — plane crash, mass casualties, terrorist bombing and major fire — now all they had to do was prioritize their needs and provide the resources accordingly until outside assistance arrived.

Teamwork. The key to success is surrounding yourself with good people who can complement your strengths and offset your weaknesses. Teamwork implies that everyone has input, but accepts the leader's decision and carries out his orders. Correspondingly, the leader's decision is made with honesty, integrity and loyalty.

Communications. All communications with your people or your boss should be honest and sincere. Giuliani spoke of Ronald Reagan, who was known as the “Great Communicator,” not because he could deliver an inspirational speech, but because he genuinely believed in what he said and had the ability to both communicate and instill that belief in ordinary citizens.

People know when a leader is genuine and when he merely is patronizing them. Being able to communicate with honesty says the leader is credible and worthy of following.

Love. Leadership stems from a love of people — the people you serve and the people who serve with you. That kind of love requires the leader to be there not only in good times but when things are going terribly wrong. As Giuliani said: “Weddings are discretionary; funerals mandatory.”

Giuliani's book has several corollaries that I think also can help us develop leadership. One I personally like is the chapter, “Underpromise and Overdeliver.” While leaders must be optimistic, it is extremely bad for leaders to promise more than they personally can deliver. This may occur in negotiations between two opposing groups, when the leader makes a promise to each side knowing neither can or will be satisfied. The result is that both groups will lose faith in the leader, thus rendering him ineffective.

The other chapter that I especially like to consider is “Everyone's Accountable, All of the Time.” As the fire chief, you are accountable to the city manager, mayor and ultimately the citizens. This is not blind loyalty, but rather a need for informed decisions. We owe it to one another to thoroughly discuss the situation beforehand when an action may have the appearance of impropriety — or as I've been known to say, how will this story play when a reporter asks, “Why was this done?” Leaders must be willing to stand up and be counted when necessary, knowing that they may pay a price for their personal integrity, but in the long run they will be able to remain accountable to themselves.

In today's world, it may not be fair, but a leader must demonstrate his or her leadership 24/7/365. Think leadership in every action you undertake.

Chief Robert R. Rielage, CFO, EFO, MIFireE, is the chief of Wyoming (Ohio) Fire-EMS, a 78-member combination fire department bordering Cincinnati. He previously served as the fire marshal of the state of Ohio. He is a contributing editor to FIRE CHIEF.