About book Where Have All The Leaders Gone? (2007)
Lee Iacocca wrote this book to take out his frustration on President George W. Bush in my opinion. What is so ironic is most of his points really could apply to President Barak Obama. As you read through the quotes below see what you think:Hey, America, wake up. These guys [the government officials] work for us. ~Lee IacoccaI’ve figured out nine points and called them “Nine C’s of Leadership.”A leader has to show CURIOSITY. – If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn’t put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he’s right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don’t care. ~Lee IacoccaA leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box. ~Lee IacoccaA leader has to COMMUNICATE. I’m talking about facing reality and telling the truth. ~Lee IacoccaA leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, “If you want to test a man’s character give him power.” ~Lee IacoccaA leader must have COURAGE. Swagger isn’t courage. Tough talk isn’t courage. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk. If you’re a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. ~Lee IacoccaTo be a leader you’ve got to have CONVICTION – a fire in your belly. You’ve got to have passion. ~Lee IacoccaA leader should have CHARISMA. I’m not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It’s the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. ~Lee IacoccaA leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? You’ve got to know what you’re doing. More important than that, you’ve got to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing. ~Lee IacoccaYou can’t be a leader if you don’t have COMMON SENSE. ~Lee IacoccaThe Biggest C is CRISIS.Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. ~Lee IacoccaWho do you think Lee is describing?“So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership.” ~Lee Iacocca Here’s what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities. ~Lee IacoccaTeamwork is what makes the Green Bay Packers great. People who work together will win – period. And that applies to companies and governments. ~Vince LombardiOne of the most important lessons I learned in business was that if all you’re getting from your team is a single point of view – usually your point of view – you’ve got to worry. You can get your own point of view for free. ~Lee IacoccaOf all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, stripped of his office, whoever can command this power is still formidable. ~Winston ChurchillWords can inspire. They can lift us to heights we never dreamed possible. Words can also provoke fear and rage. They can pound people into the ground. A true leader always strives to inspire. ~Lee IacoccaDemocracy thrives on two factors: free elections and open discourse. ~Lee IacoccaThe Constitution is a tool, and a blueprint, and a process that we have to use every day to preserve our great democracy. ~Lee IacoccaThrough the Constitution, we intrinsically understand who we are. We say, “This is what we stand for.” Its meaning should be imprinted on every heart. It should come to mind every time we vote. ~Lee IacoccaA leader has to know who his true friends are, and it’s not always the ones who agree with everything or follow you blindly. With a true friend, there’s got to be equality. You share the good times and you share the bad times. There’s got to be respect. If your friend takes a principled position for the other side, you don’t have to like it, but you don’t call him names either. ~Lee IacoccaRonald Reagan once said, “Facts are suborn things.” He actually got that quote from John Adams. ~Lee IacoccaWhen advertising slogans are better known than the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights, when shopping malls are our places of worship, when bad behavior is justified as long as it leads to profit, when debt is justified as long as it leads to a plasma TV, and when the measure of a person is the kind of car he drives, maybe it’s time to ask whether we’ve corrupted the very notion of capitalism. ~Lee IacoccaInnovation can be much more important than size. Often, when companies get big they tend to grow sluggish. It takes a constant infusion of fresh ideas and leadership to prevent that. ~Lee IacoccaWe saved Chrysler for one reason. Everyone shared in the sacrifice – starting with me. You see, it wouldn’t have gone down too well if I’d asked the rank and file to tighten their belts while I was putting extra notches in mine. So I cut my salary to one dollar a year. That is an example of leadership, born in a crisis. ~Lee IacoccaI don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom. ~General George PattonSo, if when you retire you think, "I'm tired. It's time to relax," think again. As the saying goes, you've got all eternity to catch up on your rest. ~Lee Iacocca
When I finished my first two summer novels, I wanted something current. I thought about the Asault on Reason by Al Gore, but I was afraid it might be too technical (dry) or too partisan (not that he doesn't deserve to be angry since HE was elected President, not Bush Jr.) Then I spied this one. I was going to give it to my dad for Father's Day. He'd read a couple of other books by or about Iacoca, he's from Michigan, so I figured he liked it. Well two things happened on my drive down to Phoenix to see my folks, I spilled coffe on it in the van (a Dodge Caravan, ironically), and I got HOOKED.John McCain and Fred Thompson may TALK about "straight talk" but Iococa REALLY gives it to you. From the hip, point blank, no minced words.I anticipated that he's be balanced and objective- he's been close friends with right wingers like Reagan, Bush Sr., and Bob Dole as well as lefties like Tip O'Neil and Bill Clinton. What I didn't expect is how irate he'd be with Bush Jr. and the neocons.From free trade, immigration, health care, our dependency on foreign oil, and the lies about Iraq, this son of an immigrant who created the Ford Mustang, saved Crysler and preserved the Statue of Liberty doesn't hold anything back.He lays out how unreasonable and short sighted our current paths and policies have been, and goes the extra mile to offer sound alternatives.And lest you think that it's nothing but a Bush bash- this book is actually about leadership. Iococa lays out a number of principles to look for in a leader and why they are important. He even evaluates some of the top candidates from both parties on how well they measure up on each of his principles of leadership. He refused to endorse any because he believes that Americans all need to step up and know who'd make the best leaders and why before we choose our own. (but if I were a betting man, I think he likes New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson)I can't believe that this easy to read and incredibly engaging book isn't on top of the bestseller lists. I wish Oprah would make it her book club book. I wish all the Liberal radio talk show hosts would give it free advertising because I really believe that every American needs to read this powerful and important book.
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This was a tough rating - ultimately I decided it was three star worthy only because I enjoyed Iacocca's style as well as his storytelling abilities. Overall this book title is misleading; there is little about actual leadership here - rather this is a conglomeration of rants, biography, raves and a plea to vote. As if this was his final adieu - Lee has put a bit of everything he finally wants to say (especially regarding the Bush administration) into these pages. I did find his "Rah Rah America" and naive historical references frustrating (up until Gitmo - America abided by the Geneva convention......right. Ever heard of the My Lai Massacre???) And he naturally spends a portion of his time defending his legacy and the auto industry. He implores for citizens to vote while conceding that our choices are often limited to those with wealth and power and "ties". Overall, there is not alot of "how-to" or actual ideas on how to institute needed changes. Just a man who wants his final say.
—Alisha Bennett
Are all leaders just self interested power brokers? Lee Iacocca wants us to think that he's different. Since the book has been out over a year, Lido's predictions are somewhat dated. Yet his argument that we Americans are not outraged enough at our current national trajectory is still on the mark - even though Mr. Iacocca had a visual or verbal role in many of these wrong turns and we should be holding him accountable as well. His protests come off as accurate but a little too late. Seems a common stance for those power brokers wanting to tweak their own historical significance . . . Iacocca, to his credit, is not afraid or ashamed to reveal the massive screw-ups of political and industrial CEOs. Though he seems to want to assign accountability between good and bad intentions. His own intentions were good when he selected Bob Eaton to take over at Chrysler; Eaton's intentions were bad when he took a huge paycheck and then sold out to the Germans. Iacocca's teaming up with Kerkorian was not a takeover bid (good), but Eaton reacted as it was (bad). He hits the Bush administration hard and often (though he campaigned for Bush in 2000) concerning its multiple failures and oil industry connections. (I didn't know that Condi Rice had been on the board of Chevron for 10 years when Bush picked her for his inner circle. The oil tanker named for her was quickly renamed to blur that connection.) He slams NAFTA as "America giving away the store", but brags about Bill Clinton calling him in the middle of the night to help sell it to the American people. Iacocca was there to assist the next day. He ridicules Bush's pass to the 15 Saudi Arabian's that hijacked the planes on 9/11. But Iacocca said nothing when Bush linked 9/11 to Saddam as justification for the IRAQ war. Given his record of hits and misses, who's going to listen when Iacocca talks about the sorry state of education, industry or health care in our country? He's right. He just hasn't been right enough. Fortunately for Iacocca, here in the U.S., we demand very little of our heros . . .
—Cindy
An entertaining short book that was more along the lines of a political treatise regarding the US leadership during 2007 than a book providing leadership values. I read this book hoping to gain knowledge on leadership style from a well known business leader. Unfortunately this book was more of a critique on Bush's administration and a reflection on Iacocca's post retirement years. The leadership qualities in this book can be summed in Iacocca's "nine C's" which are terms such as competence, charisma, courage etc. These terms are used to gauge perspective presidential candidates for the 2008 elections. Among Iacocca's list are: McCain, Obama, Clinton and Biden not very prophetic giving the fact that every news network presented the same list. It was a relaxing quick read that reminds me of sitting with my grandfather listening him run off anecdotes and force relationships with current world affairs.
—Dave B.
