Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership

Chapter 15. Integrating Frames for Effective Practice

No one could have forecast what New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani would face on September 11, 2001. During a breakfast meeting, he learned that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center's twin towers. He went directly to the scene, arriving in time to see the devastating strike on the second tower. It was now clear that this was planned terrorism, an unprecedented human tragedy and a deep symbolic wound for the city.

In the aftermath, the American public observed what many assumed was a transformed Giuliani—a sensitive, emotional, and deeply caring leader whose ubiquitous presence was a source of inspiration to New Yorkers, as well as to all Americans. But His Honor disputes his supposed ...