 Where
Have All the Leaders Gone?
Excerpt from
book by
by Lee Iacocca
'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! 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 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 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 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 r aising 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.'
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