Where Have All The Leaders Gone

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

What is each of us giving back to our country? Do we truly love democracy? Are we too fat and satisfied for our own good? Do we really care about our children’s futures? And who will save the middle class? These are all tough questions examined in Lee Iacocca’s Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

A self-made man who many Americans once hoped would run for president, Iacocca saved the Chrysler Corporation from financial ruin, masterminded the creation of the minivan, and oversaw the renovation of Ellis Island. Iacocca has also institutionalized the Institute for leadership at Lehigh University and the Iacocca Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes in honor of his late wife. Lee is a firm believer that leaders are formed in times of crisis – such as today. He has known more leaders than almost anyone else-among them nine U.S. presidents, many heads of state, and the CEOs of the nation’s top corporations-and is exceptionally suited to share his wisdom, knowledge, and wit about the leadership of America.

When will the American middle class realize that they run the country and need to speak up? As a college student this is extremely important to understand because this will be our generations country before we now it! Lee asks us when we will say enough. We complain about gas prices-that are controlled mainly by five corporations, the war-which is putting us into debt at an alarming rate and still hasn’t accomplished much if anything, and most of all the ignorance of the constitution by our own government.

To fix this problem Mr. Iacocca ask us to test the people that we elect to public office by using what he calls the “Nine C’s of Leadership.” I believe that this philosophy will be extremely useful. So here is the C list.

A leader must show Curiosity and Communicate. All leaders should listen to people out side of what he calls the “Yes sir,” crowd. If one looses the curiosity to explore other philosophies they will become stale. Beliefs need to be tested. If they are not then how do we know if they are right?

Leaders have to be Creative and Courageous. What happened to the “think outside the box” philosophy that all the get American inventers and leaders founded this country on? Everything changes as a biology major one of the first things learned where variables or things that change from on trail to the next sometimes you have to get creative and adapt to your environment.