- 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?'.
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- Lee Iacocca Says...
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- 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..'
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- 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.)
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning
and no plan for leaving.
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- Obama is running the biggest deficit in the history
of the country.
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- We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while
our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs.
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- Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has
a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble due to poor leadership
in school districts.
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- Our borders are like sieves.
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- The middle class is being squeezed every which way.
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- 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 debit, 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 NBC news or CNN
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.
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- 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.
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