Iacocca Lee A. - Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Acknowledgments

PART 1: WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?

PART 2: WHERE HAVE ALL OUR FRIENDS GONE?

PART 3: IS CAPITALISM LETTING US DOWN?

PART 4: CAN AMERICA BE GREAT AGAIN?

L ife is a team effort. No one gets very far alone. I have been blessed with an especially large and dedicated group of people who have supported, encouraged, inspired, and challenged mebeginning with my family.

My daughters Kathi and Lia have meant everything to me. My greatest joy is spending time with them and their familiesmy sons-in-law Ned and Victor, and my seven wonderful grandchildren, who keep me young.

My sister Delma remains my closest link to my roots in Pennsylvania. She holds a special place as the only living person who has known me since I was born.

My companion and confidant, Juliette, has brought me contentment at this stage of my life that I wasnt sure I would experience again.

I am grateful to all the people who support me every day, beginning with my assistant, Norma Saken. Norma juggles the constant flood of information and requests that come through my office, and she is always looking for new projects. I keep telling her, Norma, Im supposed to be retired, but she doesnt listen.

I also appreciate the efforts of Ken Anderson and Ginny King at Quintile Management, who keep me in business; and Rosa, Raquel, and Elmer, who make my home life easier.

The best part of life these days is my ability to make a difference in the world, and to give something back. Some very talented and devoted people help me do that. Dana Ball along with Lou Lataif and Desi Heathwood work tirelessly at the Iacocca Foundation in order to make my dream of finding a cure for diabetes come true.

My partners at the Iacocca Institute at Lehigh University, and especially Dick Brandt, have created an environment where students from around the world can discover common ground. They are literally changing the world one young mind at a time.

Blake Roney, Truman Hunt, and Brent Goddard at NuSkin, have been an inspiration in their efforts to feed the worlds hungry, and have demonstrated that you can do well in business by doing good. I am pleased to be a part of that effort.

Steve Briganti and the hardworking people at the Statue of LibertyEllis Island Foundation have provided a constant reminder of the greatness of America, and the role we all have to play.

I am also grateful to my friends in Detroit who keep me involved in the car business, my friends in Washington who remind me how important leadership is, and my friends in California who help me stay engaged and up-to-date in this fast-paced world. And of course, still on my best friends list are Bill Fugazy, Vic Damone, and Nasser Kazeminy.

Finally, I want to thank the people who helped make this book happen. When Jack Romanos, the president and CEO of Simon & Schuster, Inc., approached me with the idea of writing a book about leadership, I couldnt refuse. Jack and I go way back to 1984, when he convinced me that people really wanted to hear what a car guy had to say. The result of that collaboration was Iacocca. It has been my privilege to work with Jack again, along with his top-notch team from Scribner/Simon & Schuster. My editor, Colin Harrison, not only kept my language clean and clear, but he also pushed me to go deeper into my thinking about the critical issues of the day.

The Simon & Schuster and Scribner executives Carolyn Reidy, Susan Moldow, and Rosalind Lippel have been enthusiastically behind this project from the start. And, of course, I appreciate the hard work and skill of my collaborator, Catherine Whitney, who was patient and energetic through numerous drafts, and who helped me turn my most deeply felt ideas and beliefs into words people could understand.

Not a day goes by that some perfect stranger doesnt write, call, or approach me in public to talk about something that matters to him or her. The connection Ive made with people from all walks of life has been a great source of energy and satisfaction for me. With this book I hope to use that connection to spark an American renewal. Together, we can do whatever we can dream.

A m I the only guy in this country whos fed up with whats happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. Weve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, weve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we cant 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? Youve got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. Ill give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!

You might think Im getting senile, that Ive gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but I dont need it). The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While were 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. Thats not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. Ive had enough. How about you?

Ill go a step further. You cant call yourself a patriot if youre not outraged. This is a fight Im ready and willing to have.

My friends tell me to calm down. They say, Lee, youre eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people. Id love toas soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get them to pay attention. Im going to speak up because its my patriotic duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a straight shooter. So Ill tell you how I see it, and its not pretty, but at least its real. Im hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who say they dont vote because they dont trust politicians to represent their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS, ANYWAY?