Lee Iacocca is a name revered in the auto industry for the way he brought Chrysler back from the brink of bankruptcy. He is a leader of the highest caliber, a man to be respected and from whom there is much to learn.
Well before his time at Chrysler, Lee was dedicated to hard work. As a small child, he would wait outside the grocery store with his wagon and offer to pull groceries home for people. At the age of 16, he held a steady job at the local fruit market. He took his can-do attitude to Ford in 1946. While employed at Ford, he met the love of his life Mary McCleary, a receptionist at the Philadelphia office. Not long after they were married, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. They had a good life together and raised two daughters, Katherine and Lia. In 1983, his beloved wife passed away from complications from diabetes. It was then that Lee vowed to find a cure for the disease.
At Ford, Lee started as an engineer but quickly found his forte was sales. He came up with the popular campaign in 1956 called ''56 for 56''—buy a 1956 Ford for $56 a month. With this and other ideas, he moved up through the ranks to president by 1964. In his time at Ford, Lee was part of the development of many successful cars, most notably the ever-popular Ford Mustang. Despite these accomplishments and a record $2 million in profits in 1978, Henry Ford II fired Lee.
After being fired from Ford, Lee was aggressively pursued by the near-bankrupt Chrysler Corporation. His job required that he rebuild the company, which he did with help from many former colleagues at Ford. The first thing he did was slash spending by closing plants and making layoffs. He also cut production of many of the large gas-consuming vehicles in favor of increased production of sub-compact cars. Even with all of the changes, it was still apparent that Chrysler was headed for bankruptcy without extra help. Therefore, in a bold move Lee went to Congress and asked the government to guarantee the loans the company so badly needed. (It was thought at the time that the government actually provided the loans but such was not the case.) Through it all, there were introductions of new car lines and acquisitions such as Jeep that kept the company in the black and on the rise.
On his list of proudest achievements, his family ranks first. His love for his children and many grandchildren shaped his work life throughout his career in the automotive industry. He made time to be a large part of their lives while they were growing up, always available to show his love and support. In addition to his family, Lee takes great pride in the Iacocca Foundation that he started after vowing to his wife to find a cure for diabetes. The Foundation has become a world leader in research and development. On a professional level, Lee still cites his achievements at Chrysler as his crowning moments. In 1983, the corporation was broke and looking at bankruptcy but, with Lee at the helm, the company turned around and paid off all loans a full seven years before they were due.
Currently, Lee is retired, or at least is supposed to be. He is far from idle, as he looks tirelessly for ways to fund research for diabetes and many other charitable foundations. He is chairperson for Nourish the Children, an initiative of Nu Skin enterprises. This group provides nourishing meals to starving children around the world, most notably in Africa and Asia. He also founded Olivio Premium Products, which has a line of foods made from olive oil. All proceeds from Olivio are channeled back into the Iacocca Foundation.
Iacocca’s advice to can be summed up in the nine Cs of what a great leader needs. First, he needs to show curiosity. ''Yes'' men should never exclusively surround a leader. Lee says you need someone to challenge your ideas from time to time; if all you hear is your own advice, what are you learning? You can get your own advice every day, all day, free! Next, a leader needs creativity, the ability to think outside the box and adapt to change. Leadership, he says, is all about managing change. Along with creativity a leader must be able to communicate—not only with what you think people want to hear but with the truth. No matter how painful that truth is, it is where communication should start. A person in leadership should show character, know right from wrong and have the backbone to follow through on that knowledge. In conjunction with character is courage. True courage is the ability to come to the negotiating table and talk. It also means taking a stand no matter what the cost is to popularity. With this comes conviction, the next C. Conviction is your passion; to be effective, you need a deep-seated fire to get things done. Building upon conviction is charisma, not flash and drama but an inspiring personality that makes people want to follow you. However, all the charisma in the world is null if you have no competence. Competence is the ability to get the things you need or want done. Competence should extend to the people on your team. Last but definitely not least, a leader cannot be a leader without common sense. In the words of Charlie Beacham, one of Lee’s first managers, ''if you do not know the difference between a dip of horse dung and a dip of vanilla ice cream you will never make it.''
