Lee Iacocca
by
Andras Török & Syamak Bahmanyar
A fine job in illustrating charismatic leadership: building a vision,
communicating the vision, instilling trust in the vision, using unconventional
ways to achieving the vision and empowerment. Moreover, Iacocca's
charismatic style certainly was well suited to the situational circumstances of
the time -- with Chrysler on the brink of bankruptcy.
A stronger case for empowerment, beyond implementation of the quarterly
review system would be welcome. Likewise, a stronger case for the negative
("darker") effects of Iacocca's charismatic leadership is needed. In particular,
the "dysfunctional management practices" component of the darker side of
this charismatic influence is somewhat general and/or incomplete.
In the latter part of your presentation I was looking for your assessment of
whether Iacocca is likely to have any enduring leadership influence, perhaps
in other situations, in other times, and with other organizations, or whether his
leadership influence was opportunistic, given the crisis situation Chrysler
happened to be in at the time of his arrival.
Finally, concluding comments should have summarized what you learned
from having done this report.
Iacocca was an appropriate leader to choose to illustrate charismatic
leadership. Thank you for sharing his profile.