Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Where Have All the Leaders Gone? by Lee Iacocca
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lee Iacocca wrote this book to take out his frustration on President George W. Bush in my opinion. What is so ironic is most of his points really could apply to President Barak Obama. As you read through the quotes below see what you think:


Hey, America, wake up. These guys [the government officials] work for us.  ~Lee Iacocca

I’ve figured out nine points and called them “Nine C’s of Leadership.”
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. – If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn’t put his beliefs to the test, how does he know he’s right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance. It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don’t care.  ~Lee Iacocca

A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try something different. You know, think outside the box.  ~Lee Iacocca

A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I’m talking about facing reality and telling the truth. ~Lee Iacocca

A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, “If you want to test a man’s character give him power.”  ~Lee Iacocca

A leader must have COURAGE. Swagger isn’t courage. Tough talk isn’t courage. Courage is a commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk. If you’re a politician, courage means taking a position even when you know it will cost you votes. ~Lee Iacocca

To be a leader you’ve got to have CONVICTION – a fire in your belly. You’ve got to have passion. ~Lee Iacocca

A leader should have CHARISMA. I’m not talking about being flashy. Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It’s the ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. ~Lee Iacocca

A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? You’ve got to know what you’re doing. More important than that, you’ve got to surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing.   ~Lee Iacocca

You can’t be a leader if you don’t have COMMON SENSE.  ~Lee Iacocca

The Biggest C is CRISIS.
Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis.  ~Lee Iacocca

Who do you think Lee is describing?
“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.”  ~Lee Iacocca

Here’s what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities.   ~Lee Iacocca

Teamwork is what makes the Green Bay Packers great. People who work together will win – period. And that applies to companies and governments.  ~Vince Lombardi

One of the most important lessons I learned in business was that if all you’re getting from your team is a single point of view – usually your point of view – you’ve got to worry. You can get your own point of view for free.  ~Lee Iacocca

Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. Abandoned by his party, betrayed by his friends, stripped of his office, whoever can command this power is still formidable.  ~Winston Churchill

Words can inspire. They can lift us to heights we never dreamed possible. Words can also provoke fear and rage. They can pound people into the ground. A true leader always strives to inspire.  ~Lee Iacocca

Democracy thrives on two factors: free elections and open discourse.  ~Lee Iacocca


The Constitution is a tool, and a blueprint, and a process that we have to use every day to preserve our great democracy.  ~Lee Iacocca

Through the Constitution, we intrinsically understand who we are. We say, “This is what we stand for.” Its meaning should be imprinted on every heart. It should come to mind every time we vote.  ~Lee Iacocca

A leader has to know who his true friends are, and it’s not always the ones who agree with everything or follow you blindly. With a true friend, there’s got to be equality. You share the good times and you share the bad times. There’s got to be respect. If your friend takes a principled position for the other side, you don’t have to like it, but you don’t call him names either.  ~Lee Iacocca

Ronald Reagan once said, “Facts are suborn things.” He actually got that quote from John Adams.  ~Lee Iacocca

When advertising slogans are better known than the Ten Commandments or the Bill of Rights, when shopping malls are our places of worship, when bad behavior is justified as long as it leads to profit, when debt is justified as long as it leads to a plasma TV, and when the measure of a person is the kind of car he drives, maybe it’s time to ask whether we’ve corrupted the very notion of capitalism.  ~Lee Iacocca

Innovation can be much more important than size. Often, when companies get big they tend to grow sluggish. It takes a constant infusion of fresh ideas and leadership to prevent that.   ~Lee Iacocca

We saved Chrysler for one reason. Everyone shared in the sacrifice – starting with me. You see, it wouldn’t have gone down too well if I’d asked the rank and file to tighten their belts while I was putting extra notches in mine. So I cut my salary to one dollar a year. That is an example of leadership, born in a crisis.  ~Lee Iacocca

I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.  ~General George Patton

So, if when you retire you think, "I'm tired. It's time to relax," think again. As the saying goes, you've got all eternity to catch up on your rest.  ~Lee Iacocca


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