We learn about leaders when the stakes are the highest

After taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test for the first time, I was interested to see what I could learn about the results I got back. The test told me I am a ISFJ; I thought that summed me up pretty well. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that while I think that test was pretty spot on with my leadership abilities, that summary only works under nice, normal conditions. But what about when the pressure is turned up and results are needed immediately?

I think all leaders have two types of personalities - their day to day operations one, and their "their is a fire lit under my a** and I need to lead and get things done RIGHT NOW". In order to be a great leader, you need to be able to be effective in both situations. You need to sometimes place the MBTI test to the side and roll up the sleeves and get things done when surprises sneak up on you.

I was trying to think of an example where a leader was thrust into an uneasy spot and had to show true excellence under trying circumstances. Then I woke up this morning and realized that today is 9/11 - 8 years since the tragedies that occurred in NYC, DC, and W. Pennsylvania. As a native New Yorkers, the events of 9/11/01 will always be burned into my memory as a sad and tragic day. While the day mostly brings about bad feelings, I will always remember the leadership and resolve of NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani during the moments after the World Trade Center collapsed.

There is no training manual or leadership course that can prepare someone for the stunning and swift horror that was carried out eight years ago today. However, Giuliani rose to the occasion be keeping all New Yorkers (and by extension the country, and the world) calm and orderly. His reaction to this tragedy was to step up and be the absolute best he could be. Just look at the confidence he exulted moments after this massacre occurred:

Rudy Giuliani was a leader's leader that day. Nobody really knew what that he had that extra gear to kick his leadership to until he was faced head on with such a tragic event. The MBTI test could tell him what kind of leader he is when he sits down in a climate controlled room with no distractions and submits his answers. But his true leadership qualities came out in that moment of horror when he became "The countries mayor."

On the other side of the spectrum was the lack of leadership shown by President Bush during this same generation-changing moment. While Rudy Giuliani was showing what a great leader he was and how he could handle this crisis, President Bush conveyed the total opposite in his actions - freezing up while reading to school children in Florida.

9/11 is a day we need to always remember and honor for as long as we live. For many people, it is something that they think about every single day as they lost loved ones. But there were some lessons learned in leadership that day that I think show that sometimes leadership is more than just theories. When circumstances are their darkest, people look to their leaders for help and guidance. And the leadership shown that day by the mayor of NYC and the president of the US showed their stark differences in leadership under strife. This isn't a political discussion - both Giuliani and Bush are Republicans - but shows that while both men are clearly political leaders, their actions under duress could not have been more different.