CA World: People flock to IT-free Giuliani talk

From...

Rudolph Giuliani

By Stacy Cowley

(IDG) -- The biggest hit so far at CA World isn't BrightStor Portal, CleverPath 4.0, eTrust 20/20, or any of Computer Associates International's newly announced software.

It's former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who drew nearly 10,000 conference attendees Monday night for an IT-free keynote address.

A standing ovation greeted Giuliani's entrance and exit. In between he outlined his theory of effective leadership and fielded questions on his political ambitions, his emotional reaction to the events of September 11, and how a boy born in Brooklyn became a fan of the Yankees baseball team. (That last query came from CA Chairman Charles Wang, who presented Giuliani with a jersey from the New York Islanders hockey team, as a consolation for Giuliani's beloved New York Rangers' failure to make the playoffs.)

CA traditionally includes in its CA World program a keynote address from a political or cultural leader. Past speakers include broadcaster Walter Cronkite, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and current U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. This year's Giuliani speech drew a bigger crowd than keynotes from CA Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Kumar and Chief Technical Officer Yogesh Gupta.

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There are five key tenets of effective and inspiring leadership, Giuliani told attendees: a strong set of beliefs, courage, preparation, teamwork and communication. Using examples from his early political career and from September 11, Giuliani showed the role each tenet has played in his life. Those principles are crucial for any leader, from a politician to a sports coach to a CEO, he said.

Much of his talk -- and many of the questions from the audience -- focused on the terrorist attack on New York. What started as the worst day in American history became the greatest, Giuliani said, as Americans responded to the attacks with heroism and patriotism.

"America is spiritually much stronger today than it was before September 11," Giuliani said, noting that he personally has become more religious and more fatalistic as a result of the attacks and their aftermath.

His one reference to technology came as he spoke about his fervent belief that capitalism is the best system yet for protecting and enriching the lives of citizens. The delays caused by security checks at airports and other facilities will disappear soon, as improved technologies lead to faster and better ways of preserving security, Giuliani said.

"In a short while, the genius of the American economic system will invent a technology that will make [security checks] much faster," he said. "That's what makes capitalism great. If you invent a system that protects lives, you become wealthy."

Stacy Cowley is a New York-based correspondent for IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.