So last week Lee Iacocca died, and, in his honour, I reread his autobiography. Lee was a hard-working son of Italian immigrants that moved to the US to buy into the American dream and he has been a little over the top about America’s greatness over the years. He grew up in the depression and got publicly humiliated and fired from his job as President of Ford in the late 70’s before literally inventing the mini van and creaming Ford in the marketplace for a decade at Chrysler. All that aside, I love parts of his leadership style- famous to me for two things that I try to remember: first- hire people smarter than you and get out of their way, and leadership is just motivating people to do better every day. I also love that he had a disdain for people that could not take vacation, so upper brass at Ford, then Chrysler would say to him: “I have not taken a day of in three years” and he would respond- “why do I want you working for my company if you cannot even take responsibility for managing to balance your own life and stay connected with your family?” So, here is to Lee who worked hard, got rich, and left a legacy in leadership. So that is the thing to think about yes, a job can take over and demand attention, carve out some time. Thank you for all you do each day making summer dreams a reality.
UltimateInclusion.com 