Lee Iacocca's Where Have All The Leaders Gone?

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

What is each of us giving back to our country? Do we truly love democracy? Are we too fat and satisfied for our own good? Do we really care about our children’s futures? And who will save the middle class? These are all tough questions examined in Lee Iacocca’s Where Have All the Leaders Gone? A self-made man who many Americans once hoped would run for president, Iacocca saved the Chrysler Corporation from financial ruin, masterminded the creation of the minivan, and oversaw the renovation of Ellis Island. Iacocca has also institutionalized the Institute for leadership at Lehigh University and the Iacocca Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes in honor of his late wife. Lee is a
firm believer that leaders are formed in times of crisis – such as today. He has known more leaders than almost anyone else-among them nine U.S. presidents, many heads of state, and the CEOs of the nation’s top corporations-and is exceptionally suited to share his wisdom, knowledge, and wit about the leadership of America. When will the American middle class realize that they run the country and need to speak up? As a college student this is extremely important to understand because this will be our generations country before we now it! Lee asks us when we will say enough. We complain about gas prices-that are controlled mainly by five corporations, the war-which is putting us into debt at an alarming rate and still hasn’t accomplished much if anything, and most of all the ignorance of the constitution by our own government. To fix this problem Mr. Iacocca ask us to test the people that we elect to public office by using what he calls the “Nine C’s of Leadership.” I believe that this philosophy will be extremely useful. So here is the C list. A leader must show Curiosity and Communicate. All leaders should listen to people out side of what he calls the “Yes sir,” crowd. If one looses the curiosity to explore other philosophies they will become stale. Beliefs need to be tested. If they are not then how do we know if they are right? Leaders have to be Creative and Courageous. What happened to the “think outside the box” philosophy that all the get American inventers and leaders founded this country on? Everything changes as a biology major one of the first things learned where variables or things that change from on trail to the next sometimes you have to get creative and adapt to your environment. To be a leader you’ve got to have Conviction-a fire in your belly. Leaders have to believe in what they are doing. They must have the passion to succeed and grow as a leader. Charisma should be found in great abundance in every person in charge.
Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It’s the ability to inspire. The final two C’s are Competence and Common Sense. Both of these seem obvious, right? Maybe that’s why they or largely deficit in today politics. The first sign of competence to me is the fixing of problems and it seems that the most important problems with today’s society are on the back burners. That doesn’t sound like common sense to me. Lee throws one final C in at the end claiming that he didn’t want to be accused of impersonating Moses by have “The ten C’s of leadership”. This is the biggest C, being Crisis, where leaders are born as we talked about earlier. Are we the good guys anymore? Isn’t that one of the thing America prides itself in? Sometimes I just feel like a bully in a high school called the world. You know what the bad thing about bullies is? There is or is going to be a bigger one. Iacocca uses the example of when we where kids and there was that one kid who had the best marbles or cards and no one wanted to make him mad because if you did he wouldn’t play with you. America is slowly becoming like that. This mentality is costing us all of allies and
friends. The future starts with the present many people don’t realize this or choose to ignore it. But the fact is that the children of today are going to be charged with fixing the mistakes that be produced today. I’m not one to focus on money but the national debt goes up $1.67 million a day that we pass on to our own children to take care. Another raising problem in America and the world today that will be passed to the children of the future is global warming. Who is going to stand and fight for their rights?
In the later parts of the book Lee talks about the need for a leader of the middle class. This is partially what saved us from the depression. Everyday leaders such as union leaders and great people like FDR who demonstrated the nine C’s everyday. Overall this book is a very useful resource and outtake on what we need to be asking not only the government but also ourselves. Lee’s great experience with form leaders and from being a CEO himself gives him the perfect point of view for what we need. Maybe if we took all this into perspective then we could help the problems that we face as Americans everyday.