I think that Lee Iacocca is one of the greatest leaders that came out of the financial crisis of the late 70’s/ early 80’s. Righting the Chrysler ship took lots of guts and determination along with healthy dose of taxpayer money, but he (and others), made that ship float again. The following is an excerpt from a book by Iacocca called “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”
I think it is an appropriate quote to run as we roll up to the General Election. Snopes.com says this is an accurate excerpt from the book.
The two party system????
Remember Lee Iacocca, the VP at Ford credited with the birth of the
Mustang, the man who rescued Chrysler, Corporation from their death
throes, and the owner of the famous quote ‘Lead, follow, or get out of
the way’? Well, he’s back! He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.
Lee Iacocca writes:
‘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. George Bush, Dick Chaney and who is this Bozo coming up next?
One of the most Liberal Idiots in the U. S. Senate and he is talking
about disarming America . I can’t believe the American people are
seeing what he is about to do to this country. May God have mercy on
us all.
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
all moving offshore. We’re getting slaughtered by health care costs.
Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy
policy. Our schools are the worst in the world. Our borders are like
sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are
times that cry out for leadership and we are getting ready to put the
most Liberal Senator in the U. S. Senate in as our next President
because we want to be fair and elect someone just because of his race.
We don’t have time to be fair, we need a strong leader.
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 hope 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. Well guess what people? We are
having more floods right now. What are we doing to help these people
out. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.
Figure out what you’re going to do the next time. Why are we allowing
people to build in flood plains anyway? If you build in a flood area,
expect to be flooded and deal with it. Don’t expect the Government to
bail you out.
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can
restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. All they seem to be
thinking now-days is getting themselves bigger salaries and bonuses.
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? likely nothing!
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 and the Senate. 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
Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/ will call them a name? Give
me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change? I
honestly don’t think any of you have one!
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.’
Make a ‘real contribution’ by sending this to everyone you know and care
about……our future is at stake!”