Icons and Idiots: Straight Talk on Leadership Hardcover – Illustrated, June 4, 2013

I read Mr. Lutz' previous book CAR GUYS AND BEAN COUNTERS. Like some other reviewers, I panned it --- not because Mr. Lutz is a bad writer, but because he told the story of our auto industry's demise like an autopsy. There was no way to sugarcoat the story of a failing industry in order to make it an exciting read.But I did enjoy Mr. Lutz' style of writing (plus his outspoken appearances on CNBC). I wondered if he had other, more positive stories to tell about his management of auto design in the U.S. and Europe. This book tells those positive and often amusing stories. Although the subject of leadership has been written about to the point of becoming hackneyed, Mr. Lutz does bring to the table a couple of interesting insights and anecdotes.Lutz explains his purpose at the beginning:==========THIS BOOK is about leaders and leadership. No "recipes" are offered; it's a compendium from my more than sixty years of observation while basking in the glow of inspirational leaders, trying my utmost to validate my employment to the tough, sometimes irrational ones, and marveling at the multifaceted, ever-shifting personalities of some of the quirky ones, wondering, at times, how they ever achieved their lofty positions.We'll examine past bosses who were profane, insensitive, totally politically incorrect, and who "appropriated" insignificant items from hotels or the company...We'll look at another boss who could analyze a highly complex profit-and-loss statement or a balance sheet at a glance, yet who, at times, failed to grasp the simplest financial mechanisms-- how things actually worked in practice to create the numbers in the real world.===========He profiles the eleven leaders who he says most shaped his life. My favorites are #1, #2, and #8 --- his flamboyant teacher at the Swiss boarding school for troubled students (MR. Lutz' early academics apparently left much to be desired), his Marine D.I., and his work for Chrysler's legendary Lee Iacocca.He says that his Swiss high school teacher set a new standard of academic excellence for the students like him who had flunked out of "regular" high school in the Germanized area of Switzerland:==========His presence instantly dominated the classroom; he was the epitome of what the U.S. Marine Corps, which I would be joining a few years hence, called "command presence," that indefinable quality that some people possess-- an aura of confidence, of knowledge, of unquestionable authority."Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I look forward to teaching you what you need to be taught. I'm good at it. I demand your attention at all times. I expect respect and will not tolerate talking in class, nor horseplay, nor sloppy work. Assignments will be completed on time and handed in neatly and legibly written. Tests will be both oral and written, announced and unannounced. I set the rules, and you just heard them. And one other thing: out of respect for my position and my considerable education, you will rise when I enter the classroom and be seated when I sit. Any questions? Now is the time to ask. I see there are none, so let's get down to business."===========The next chapter is about his enlistment in the Marines. His D.I. was the stereotypical old-school style who humiliated the "t--rds" with seeming brutality and senseless physical tasks. He made them exert themselves to the point of dropping of heat stroke and exhaustion. But of course his purpose was to mold weak lily-livered civilians into combat ready Marines capable of executing orders under the brutish conditions of combat. In that he succeeded perfectly.His 8th Chapter is about Lee Iacocca. I was in my early 20s just starting out in business when Mr. Iacocca came on the scene to save Chrysler Corporation and perhaps the American auto industry, which was being buried under Japanese imports. He did it by building the smaller, fuel-efficient cars the public wanted and allaying the public's quality concerns with the unprecedented 6-year, 60,000 mile warranty.Mr. Iacocca makes it plain in his own books that he's a thin-skinned insecure personality prone to holding intense personal grudges (primarily against Henry Ford III who he says done him wrong at Ford). Lutz says than in spite of these short-comings Mr. Iacocca had the INTUITION to make the important big decisions and the COURAGE to stick to his guns once the decision as made. Lutz tells how he made big bets on controversial decisions, like merging Chrysler with AMC and backing the SUV's and the Viper. Once Mr. Iacocca made his decision he ignored the second-guessers and got the job done. And he turned out to be right on everything that mattered.==========Mercurial, inconsistent, controversial, a little insecure, given to posturing and bluster, Iacocca nevertheless was the incarnation of the successful leader. Blunt and fearless in his public pronouncements ...with op-ed pieces or TV appearances. His was even one of the best-known faces on TV, and the public loved and admired him, saw him as the man who saved Chrysler against incredible odds. Iacocca did what leaders are supposed to do: pursue a bold strategy and inspire subordinates, dealers, suppliers, and shareholders with the power of his spoken word. He made mistakes, acknowledged them, and moved on. He didn't mind being unfair or being accused of not listening enough. So what? The job got done! He has been called "the greatest American industrial CEO of all time." I'm not one to argue!==========These are the stories about the most successful leaders who influenced Lutz. Some of the other leaders Lutz profiles had serious flaws. One of them ---- the CEO of Exide Technologies whom Lutz replaced --- was an outright crook who employed bribery, phony accounting, price-fixing, fraud, racketeering, and EPA-defying manufacturing shortcuts to peddle his products. He ended up serving a 10-year sentence in the Federal Pen.Lutz explains how most of these leaders, even the flawed ones, still managed to call upon the power of their other positive leadership characteristics to succeed. He explains how GM's CEO Richard Wagoner realized his limitations and brought in additional staff to round out his views.He laces the narrative with plenty of sufficiently amusing off-color stories about those "old school" managers in pre-P.C. days --- an early sixties ultra-macho culture like the one popularized on Mad Men. "Bob Wachtler (Planning Director of GM's Overseas Division) was not without a sense of humor, however racist, sexist, homophobic, and species-ist it may have been. Let's remember that we're talking about a white, predominantly German-origin male in his early sixties, and the year was 1963. Different standards were in effect."In the Epilogue Lutz sums up the common denominators of these very different bosses he reported to during his schooling, military service, and executive career. It sums up the essence of leadership about as well as I have ever seen it summarized, probably better than in 99% of other business books. I particularly liked this insight into the leader's need to be flexible:=============Leadership style and method (not long-term goals or strategic priorities) need to be "situational." A good leader has a portfolio of styles at his or her command, as the situation may dictate. There are times when absolute command and control are essential: we call them "crises." ...There are leaders who know only this style. They are successful "crisis managers" who know how to cut, slash, and burn without remorse or hesitation.They are often near useless in non-crisis situations, where the thoughtful leader solicits input from others, thus drawing on the collective intelligence of the organization....Large corporations breed a lot of those; compromising, listening, sharing, avoiding mistakes is what got them to the top in the first place. The multistyle or multifaceted leader, like a good actor, can be participative, friendly, sharing, and humorous in the normal course of business. He or she can and must, however, be unflinching and stubborn if the situation calls for it. And anger, real or feigned, is an appropriate emotion when those accountable have failed. The good golfer has many clubs in his bag, and knows how to hit all of them, just as strong leaders have many styles to use as needed.============Worthwhile gleanings for those interested in business leadership that includes colorful insights into the auto industry magnates whom Bob Lutz reported to.

I bought this book because I liked Bob Lutz's previous book "Car Guys vs Bean Counters" and it received a favorable review in the Wall Street Journal. The reviewer in the Journal had covered Detroit for years for the Journal and had known many of the people Lutz wrote about. He did not disagree with Lutz's assessment of them. The people Lutz writes about are people he worked for in his long career beginning with a teacher in Switzerland and followed by his Marine DI. He deeply admires both of them, but the rest of the people in the book don't quite make the grade. While working General Motors in Germany he got a new boss as chairman of GM Germany who had come from Chevrolet. Since Opel was GM's second largest division the smart thing to do would have been to appoint one of the best men possible. In fact, he was sent to Germany to get him out of the way because he was a hopeless drunk. Lutz's experience with Lee Iacocca was somewhat strained. Iacocca had a difficult relationship with Henry Ford II because of their widely different backgrounds. Ford was the 3rd generation of one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in America and Iacocca's father had owned a hot dog stand. When Lutz worked for Iacocca at Chrysler, the same strain appeared because Lutz's background was more like Ford's than Iacocca's. Lutz is from a well off family. (Swiss banking) was educated in Switzerland, and speaks English, German, & French fluently. What seemed to really tear it was in business trips to Italy, it turned out that Lutz could speak Italian better than Iacocca. Some of the men Lutz worked for did very well despite perceived flaws and some should never have been in the positions they were in. Bob Lutz doesn't think Bob Lutz is perfect. He writes well and doesn't bury the reader in excessive detail. This book is entertaining and informative and should leave readers somewhat skeptical (not cynical) of leadership, not just in the auto industry, but everywhere.

Lutz's candid, free-flowing, colorful, and often hilarious descriptions were a worthwhile read. It was interesting to learn about the personality quirks and shortcomings of top managers in the multi-billion dollar auto industry. I saw similar individuals in the chemical industry where I was primarily in production management. It's kind of nice to know that quirkiness is common to all levels of society. Makes one feel he is not alone in his own quirkiness and shortcomings.I particularly liked the way Lutz poo-pooed some of that touchy-feely management business and all that garbage about mission statements, values, goals, etc. I can recall endless meetings on that, ending in big books that were put on a shelf and forgotten.Lutz gets to the heart of the matter, but his free-flowing style can be a bit rambling, and sometimes there seems to be a little inconsistency between his criticism and praise for an individual, almost as if, after being critical, he feels he has to say something positive.I thought it interesting that Lutz believed he was still a worthwhile commodity at age 66 after an initial retirement. I feel the same way. I wouldn't mind going back into plant management after a career of learning including learning from my mistakes.The book is short, a bit over 200 pages. Even I read it within a couple days, but it gets to the point. There is a nice 7-page index.Lutz comes across as a little self-serving sometimes, but what the heck, it's his book.

After reading the insightful 'Car Guys vs the Bean Counters', I found this a disappointing book. I felt that Lutz did not deliver on what the title implied, that he did not give a clearer opinion of the men he featured in each chapter i. e. being at least more suggestive of whether the subject was and icon or an idiot (laws of libel permitting) but was rather too ambiguous.

Interesting profiles of some of the great and not so great leaders that Lutz has encountered, Should be required reading for managers and people who think they are managers. Lutz clearly is not impressed by modern management techniques such as PMP, "lean" and all the other quack wares from management consultants

a must read

ok

A very good read I have passed it on Quick and easy to read insight into the Murky world of this era in the Motor industry