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Born on October 15, 1924 to immigrant Italian parents is best known for spearheading the production of the famous Ford Mustang and saving the Chrysler company from bankruptcy.
"Portfolio has named Iacocca the 18th greatest American CEO of all time" This is thanks to the excellent management skills that he possesses which enabled him to quickly rise to the ranks at both Ford and Chrysler and has made history more than once with the innovation and release of highly competitive vehicles into the market.
Lee Iacocca also benefits from having great vision when it comes to spotting gaps in the market and quick sure fire decision making skills in order to start and complete new projects that have proven to be successful more often than not.

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After having a brief career in engineering working for Ford, Lee Iacocca personally asked to be moved to marketing where he thrived in the field. He was a known creative salesman which helped him bring the needed 'buzz' to the companies he worked for. Certain principles of Iacocca helped him shape up to be one of the greatest CEO's in America. Certain principles such as leaders are formed, not born; and that management is motivating people. This with the competency and vision to put great ideas in motion has helped him thrive as a president of both Ford and Chrysler.
After misunderstandings between himself and Henry Ford II, Iacocca was fired from Ford in 1978, despite historically huge profits, and hired by then 'in trouble' Chrysler. The following year he was appointed CEO of Chrysler Corp. Successfully adapting to a new work environment and quickly realising that the company will not survive without a loan, Lee approached the U.S. Congress and secured a bailout.
After bringing key employees from Ford over to Chrysler and introducing successful new products such as the Kei car and the minivan, Chrysler was able to pay off its loan several years in advance and in the process saving some 600,000 jobs

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Skills and Attributes - Positive/Negative

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Skills and Attributes - Positive/Negative

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Positive :

-A combination of vision and ability to put ideas in motion and the ability to manage people is the essence of what makes Lee Iacocca a great leader.

-Adaptability and fearlessness regardless of the environment, whether there is a job transition, a gas crisis ( which was ongoing at the time of Lee's departure from Ford) or even a failing company are the attributes of a great leader which show that no matter how tough the going gets, a good leader always comes out on top.

-A great spokesperson. Lee Iacocca is a great engineer, which is what he majored in; however after asking to be moved into the marketing department at Ford, it is at that moment that his career flourished. This has enabled him to establish great advertising for the upcoming projects as well as a more personal relationship with customers which made his marketing campaigns that much better and also provided them an advantage over the competition.

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Skills and Attributes - Positive/Negative

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Skills and Attributes - Positive/Negative

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Negatives:

-A public fall from grace : Chrysler had announced in January 1988 that they would close a plant recently acquired in 1987. This has caused 5,500 jobs to be eliminated after employees accused Iacocca lied to them when he pledged to keep the plant open for at least 3 years. This was a strategic mistake which sparked outrage in the community.

-A public fall from grace : A rushed product, the Ford Pinto caused more trouble than good for the company and Iacocca, and very publicly as well. The Ford Pinto had a fatal design flaw which caused the fuel tank to catch fire when involved in a rear-impact which forced Ford to recall and repair all Pintos built between 1971 to 1977. However it is also reported that Ford knew the Pinto was a fire hazard by the time the 1973 model rolled out. This is a prime example of neglecting safety due to corporate greed which is ultimately a negative attribute. It did not help that Lee Iacocca was the star of many adverts portraying him as an innovator and advocate of the safety of American cars compared to similar Japanese models.

-Attempted Hostile Takeover of Chrysler: In December of 1995 Chrysler had sued Iacocca due to claims that he offered confidential information to billionaire Kirk Krekorian who was trying to take over the company at the time. The case was settled eventually with Iacocca signing an agreement to not speak publicly about Chrysler for five years. Eventually he returned as Chrysler's pitchman in 2005 among other celebrities.
However this has definitely hurt the public's positive perception of Lee Iacocca which somewhat tarnished the very reputation he worked for this many years, which shows that due to corporate greed even the greatest leaders can go back on their word despite the great achievements throughout the years.

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I personally look up to what Lee Iacocca has achieved over his career because, of course, at a much smaller scale have been through similar changes.

I am the first one out of my family to have the possibility to study abroad and I personally see it as a similar experience to change 'courses' in life into the unknown and for that I look up to Iacocca and admire the fact that he managed to move from a highly successful company like Ford to a failing Chrysler and turn it around into a profitable company. I like to believe that as a possible future leader I share some of the skills and attributes that he possesses and has portrayed in his career.

The attribute of adaptability shows that no matter the situation the necessary actions and decisions were made in order to 'survive'
The skill of communication is highly important as well and it can change the outcome of different situations but it also smoothes the process of doing so, thus making it easier.

I hope to study this visionary of the industry and be able to 'absorb' the good from his skills and attributes and apply this to my life and future career whilst avoiding the negatives at all costs.

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Lido Anthony "Lee" Iacocca has achieved fantastic results during his years at Ford and some could argue that he singlehandedly saved Chrysler from bankruptcy due to his special management and leadership skills.
However he is not without controversy as strategic failures and accusations of corporate greed began to show up late in his career and after retirement as well.
Despite the negative publicity and 'drama', we can take all of the information 'with a grain of salt' and observe a leader with a great vision, management skills and intuition but also learn from his mistakes.

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https://www.biography.com/people/lee-iacocca-9348614       - Images and Facts

https://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/26/us/lee-iacocca-fast-facts/index.html       - Images and Facts

http://www.mustangandfords.com/news/1431-1965-ford-mustang-best-of-the-new-york-worlds-fair/photo-06.html   - Photo

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/lee-iacocca.htm     - Photo

https://www.cnbc.com/2009/04/24/Portfolios-Best-American-CEOs-of-All-Time.html?slide=4   - Photo and Facts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1984/05/13/when-the-taxpayers-saved-lee-iacoccas-bacon-what-did-they-get-out-of-it/b55c6d11-2503-4e16-8e0b-54bd06866fa1/?utm_term=.a2a2238511c8     - Bailout

https://www.biography.com/people/lee-iacocca-9348614  facts and attempted takeover of chrysler

https://www.hemmings.com/magazine/hcc/2012/05/LEE-IACOCCA/3711691.html  - photo

http://articles.latimes.com/1988-05-03/news/mn-2137_1_lee-iacocca/2  - negatives