JuliaB
10-20-2008, 11:06 AM
Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from
it's death throes?
He's now 82 years old and has a new book, and here are some excerpts.
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 Cs of leadership, 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 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 tha t 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 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 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 side lines 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!
it's death throes?
He's now 82 years old and has a new book, and here are some excerpts.
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 Cs of leadership, 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 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 tha t 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 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 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 side lines 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!