Where Have All the Leaders Gone by Lee Iacocca - Book Report/Review Example

Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Introduction “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” This is the question that 82-year-old businessman Lee Iacocca posits as he decries ineffective leadership skills in George W. Bush’s administration. Lee lacocca makes scathing remarks against a number of decisions that President Bush made as the president of United States of America. Having successful been in charge of Ford and then Chrysler, Lee lalocca must have gained much experience in leadership. Also, having lived in America through several historical moments, Lee must have observed quite a number of American presidents and politicians with different leadership styles. In this paper, I discuss the lessons from the excerpt of Lee’s “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” I begin by briefly summarizing the contents of the excerpt, then give a brief recap of leadership, and, finally, connect the concept of leadership to Lee’s qualities of an effective leader. Summary “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” excerpt was written and publish in 2007 some months before George W. Bush vacated from the White House. It was a tense time in American history as the country had just recovered from the September 11 terror attack. It was also at this time that thousands of American army men were engaged in wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Most Americans had begun feeling the impact of these interventions and calls for President Bush to bring these wars to the end were well evident in the airwaves. One particular man who seems was increasingly getting agitated with each new day under President Bush administration was Lee lacocca. This prompted him to make such scathing remarks that sooner than later became a trending topic in America. In the article, Lee begins by wondering if he is the only man in America who is fed up with all that was happening. His friends discourage him from speaking up against poor leadership on account that he was too old for that. Instead of letting go, Lee bemoans the American youths who seem disinterested with politics and argues that he will speak up on their behalf as long as they remain apathetic. This sets the platform for his accusation against poor leadership that he has witnessed in America under President Bush. In a clearly fashioned rhetoric, Lee asks: “Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone? (Iacocca)” In the paragraphs that follow Lee outlines nine leadership qualities that were evidently missing in Bush’s administration. These leadership qualities include curiosity, creativity, effective communication, character, courage, conviction, charisma, competence, and Common sense. He then adds Crisis as the last and biggest quality which separates great leaders from ineffectual leaders. In conclusion, Lee says that, “Hey, Im not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. Im trying to light a fire. Im speaking out because I have hope (Iacocca).” In other words, his main intention of writing the article was to charge American’s to demand for better leaders in the subsequent elections. Background of Leadership Leadership is basically the backbone and engine of organizations where, for this case, organization may be taken to imply a country. As the people in authority, leaders not only manage the organization’s activities but also engage one on one with the general employees or the citizens of a country. Conferred with the duty to communicate organizational objectives, visions and ideas to their subordinates, leaders are responsible for the maintenance and implementation of organizational rules and systems. They also have a say on matters pertaining to recruitment, promotion, retention and dismissal processes. Consequently, in a sense, leaders at virtually all cadres serve as spokespersons for the specific areas of their command as well as act as a linkage connecting to the employees (Yukl, 23). Several factors come into play when analyzing the role that leadership plays in any organization. Evidently, whereas two or more organizations may take off at almost the same level of opportunities, clear demarcation between them in terms of overall performance is observed after some time. A number of reasons ranging from economic to legal, and to environmental issues may be cited for the distinction in prospects. Nonetheless, a common denominator that underscores all the other factors revolves around leadership. Management team essentially forms the leadership team of any organization. Proper and effective leadership style guarantees better organizational performance. On the other hand, inept leaders more often drag organizations into the doldrums. Lessons Learnt about Leadership from “Where Have All the Leaders Gone? The first lesson learnt is the definition of leadership. Leadership can be described as the process of influencing others to come to an understanding and concur with what ought to be done and how to be done. This process involves coordinating individual and collective efforts in order to achieve a common goal. From the above definition, an attempt to define leadership must contain the following components: process, influence, a group or followers, shared goals. The idea of defining leadership as a process implies that is a quality that can be learnt; unlike the popular notion that leadership is inborn. The second lesson is multifaceted and covers the qualities that a good leader should posses. From the definition of leadership above, the concept of a leader may easily be inferred. Certainly, a leader is a person who exercises leadership. He or she leads as others follows. Or rather, through a combination of skills, such a person ably directs others towards the achievement of a common goal. Nonetheless, there are a number of qualities that such a person must have to make them an effective leader. Lee lalocca covers this qualities relative to the American context and calls them the nine C’s that all leaders should posses. This is as described below: Qualities of an Effective Leader The first quality of an effective leader is that they must be curious. Curiosity here implies the willingness to break loose from one’s comfort zone and listen to information or rather remarks from all quarters. It is only through listening to various divergent views that a person is able to understand their followers and make sound decision on a variety of matters. By comparing President Bush and Thomas Jefferson, Lee find the latter to be a better leader that the former. This is because Bush clearly stated that he has no time for reading newspaper which, according to Lee, offers the best avenue to understand divergent views. On the other hand, Jefferson preferred to have newspapers without a government to a government without newspapers. A leader who does not step out of their comfort zone grows stale. The second quality of an effective leader is creativity. This is a quality where a leader is ready to “think outside the box” and try something new. Creativity describes the ability to adapt to different situations that may arise. Using the case of Bush, Lee laments that he was ineffectual in the manner he sent United troops to Baghdad. While Joe Biden had hinted to him about the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the disbanded Iraqi army, and the problems of securing oil fields, Bush was clearly not able to creatively adapt to the reality on the ground. Instead, he chose to rely on his instincts thus leading Americans to a war that has largely been criticized as a flop. The third quality of an effective leader is good communication. Communication describes the quality of clearly and honestly articulating issues to the followers. Sugarcoating and cover-ups are now elements of a good leader. Lee lococca argues that communication begins by speaking the truth even when opinions expressed are not popular. Using the war in Iraq, Lee asserts that its failure was partly due to poor communication. Bush kept on telling Americans half truths about the war in Iraq until that moment when so much had already been lost. The fourth quality of an effective leader is that they should be of a strong character. Character here means the ability to differentiate between what is right and wrong and having the guts to pursue what is right. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, Lee says that “if you want to rest a man’s character give him power.” People in power tend to abuse their power. For instance, while George Bush was conferred with the power over America, he seems to have lost his sense of humanity such that he was ready to send American troops and innocent Iraqi citizens to their death. Bush’s motivations for invading Iraqi are still unclear up to this day. If he was actually a man of strong character and, therefore, an effective leader, he should not have pursued military action that resulted to the loss of thousands of human life. The fifth character of an effective leader is courage. Courage means taking a right position even if it could cost your position as a leader. Caution however should be taken such that courage expressed here is not mistaken to arrogance. The sixth quality is that a leader should always possess conviction. Conviction is burning desire to achieve something that you firmly believe in. In other words a leader should not be wavering in their opinion. They should work with such a conviction so as to help the followers believe in the course they are pursuing. The seventh quality of an effective leader is charisma. Charisma is the quality that inspires people to want to follow or be like their leader. Essentially, this quality could be a product of other qualities already described above. An admirable leader would certainly have more followers. The next quality is competence. Competence describes the quality of doing thing in the right manner. It could be used synonymously with attributes such a diligence in the work place. Finally, an effective leader should be able to employ common sense when it comes to decision making. Lame excuses are not excusable for a leader leading a nation or an organization. Common sense should always form the basis of all decisions. Lee concludes his arguments on the qualities of leaders when he asserts that effective leaders are known in moments of crisis. Crises present situation where leaders are supposed to make quick and sober decisions that would have a rippling good results. Failure to this may water down all the efforts of a leader. Conclusion Through his scathing criticism to George W. Bush, Lee Lococca effectively paints out a picture of effective leadership. Leadership is a deliberate effort to influence people towards the achievement of a shared goal. Effective leaders must be willing to listen to their followers and open to divergent views. They must be courageous in decision making, good communicators, prompt to act in crises, have strong conviction, creative, and curious to get information. Works Cited Iacocca, Lee. Where have all the leaders gone?. Simon and Schuster, 2008. Yukl, Gary A. "Leadership in organizations." (2002). Read More