There have been few business leaders in the past as outspoken as Lee Iacocca. I’ve enjoyed his books in the past and ordered his latest “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” In the meantime, reader Kenny sent me an excerpt of that book, which probably resembles how a lot of people feel these days. Take a look and see if you’re one of them:
‘Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘Stay the course.’
Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the bums out!’
You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.
The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving ‘pom-poms’ instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘America’ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I’ve had enough. How about you?
I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis!
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.
On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess. 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. But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.
Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem the silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on the news will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope; I believe in America. In my lifetime I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: the ‘Great Depression’, ‘World War II’, the ‘Korean War’, the ‘Kennedy Assassination’, the ‘Vietnam War’, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this:
‘You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That’s the challenge I’m raising in this book. It’s a call to ‘Action’ for people who, like me, believe in America. It’s not too late, but it’s getting pretty close. So let’s shake off the crap and go to work. Let’s tell ’em all we’ve had ‘enough.’
From my viewpoint, this is Iacocca at its finest. I have always liked authors who could care less about political correctness and call a spade a spade. This article has nothing to do with investing but everything with having the right attitude, and I sure hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Comments 3
sad but true I have to agree with Lee and Kenny let’s trhow the bums out and start over again! Congress and the house onder Nancy’s leadership is like two kids throwing sand at each othe in the sand box getting now where!
I too agree with Lee, you, my Mom, my sister, etc., so I vote for a new Senator, a new Congressmen, a new President and try and throw my Bums out. (But then everyone else votes for the incumbents…)
What Lee throws out is a lot of questions and few answers. I hear a lot of questions/anger/etc. from others, but I hear very few answers or possibile solutions. I don’t have the money to run to be a “leader”… Lee does, is he running?
What I’d like to hear from Lee, Lou, Glenn, etc. is if it’s not Obama, Clinton, McCain, then who? If it’s not Bingaman, Domenici, and Pearce, then who?
I too want to know where the leaders are? Give me a hint where to look!
I have said exactly what Lee has said and I’m called a radical,and non-patriotic. I am an elected official and I refuse to play the politically correct game.We who speak out are the only patriots in this country. Public officials can be recalled and what we need is a nationwide watch group made up to research and recall a politition every day of the week. They need to be stripped of their retirements and made to live like the rest of the retirees. When an incumbent choses to run for another office they should be forced to resign and not continue to steal from the tax payers as all our current candidates are now doing. I am very serious about this I just don’t know how to get it started but if we don’t there is going to be an uprising of the people and you will see your own Gov. turn on the true citizens of this country. Hook me up with some one lets get the ball rolling.