Love for Life

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from its death throes?

He's now 82 years old and has a new book, 'Where Have All The Leaders Gone?'.

Lee Iacocca.com

Lee Iacocca Says: 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!

(Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis being the first.)

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 throwing 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 Fox 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 Wars I and II,' the 'Korean War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,'the 'Vietnam War,' the 1970's 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 your own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care about. It's our country, folks, and it's our future. Our future is at stake!!

My Life

I'm proud to be a first generation American and prouder still to be raised by two of the finest parents anyone could ever have. My father, Nicola, first came here from Italy when he was twelve years old. Nineteen years later, he'd saved enough to travel back to get my grandmother. How's that for determination? It was on that same trip back that he met and fell in love with a beautiful young woman named Antoinette. Fortunately for both of us, he was charming enough that she came back too.

Growing up, our family lived in the steel making belt of Pennsylvania where my father opened and ran a hot dog restaurant that still stands today - Yocco's, which is how the Pennsylvania Dutch pronounced Iacocca. After high school, I went somewhere very different, but not very far away: Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. I left four years later with some great experiences under my belt, a degree in industrial engineering and a Wallace Memorial Fellowship to Princeton University (where I had the good fortune of attending during Albert Einstein's tenure). After Princeton, I landed my first job as an engineer at the Ford Motor Company.

It didn't take long for me to realize that I was better suited to the sales and marketing side of the car business. The bosses agreed and soon I made the move. After leading several successful initiatives, I began to move up the ranks, ultimately finding my true calling in product development. It was also during this period that I married my beautiful wife, Mary, with whom I would have two amazing daughters, Kathryn and Lia. With my family by my side, I continued my ascent within the Ford company.

Becoming president of Ford in my forties was a dream come true for the son of immigrants. The 1960s were an incredible period for us at the company, marking the launch of the Ford Mustang and Lincoln Continental Mark III, among others. Our success continued into the 70s, but by the end of the decade Henry Ford II and I could no longer co-exist. In 1978, I was fired despite the fact that we'd netted a $2 billion profit for the year. Of course, though I may not have realized it at the time, some of my best years were still ahead of me.

At first, being hired to head up Chrysler seemed like going from the frying pan into the fire. This venerable company was on the verge of bankruptcy, and I had some tough decisions to make. To save the company, I had to lay off some workers, sell off our European division and close several plants. And of course, I had to secure the now famous loan we received from Congress-which I paid back early with interest.

Once Chrysler was solvent, our next step was to seriously rethink the market. We realized that there was a simultaneous need for two very different types of vehicles. The first was a more fuel-efficient, "compact" vehicle (the country was in the midst of a serious fuel crisis). The second was a concept vehicle that inspired me to bring over my old friend Hal Sperlich from Ford. Together, we spearheaded development of a prototype we'd initially kicked the tires on at Ford - the minivan. The minivan was a phenomenal success, and a precursor to the SUV.

But while the early 1980s were years of great career success, they were also ones of great personal loss as Mary finally succumbed to her diabetes in 1983. It was after her passing that we began The Iacocca Foundation to help find a cure for this terrible disease. (Since I've been retired, this has become a primary focus of my energies and I'm optimistic we may still find a cure in my lifetime.)

After Mary's passing, I poured myself back into work. Chrysler continued its resurgence as the decade went along, acquiring AMC and Jeep in 1987. When I retired from the company in 1992, it was in great shape. I was 68 years old and frankly, feeling a little bored. At that point, I considered everything from public office to the Commissionership of Major League Baseball. None quite intrigued me enough to sign on, so I took the consulting route instead.

After several years of consulting, I finally and officially retired from the private sector... for a while. In 2000, my son-in-law and I launched Olivio Premium Products, a line of products made from olive oil. I finally faced the fact that I had flunked retirement. Today, I spend most of my time working with the Foundation, the Iacocca Institute, and other philanthropic endeavors. My frustration with our nation's lack of leadership propelled me to write Where Have All the Leaders Gone? I can't sit on the sidelines while this nation needs me.

Link to Lee Iacocca's Website: http://www.leeiacocca.com