Lee Iacocca Et Al

Lee Iacocca passed away last week. He was a brilliant business and civic leader and a cultural icon who was even considered for president. I never met him but read his autobiography and besides enjoying it I took away a management technique I am sharing with you here.

Iacocca had each person directly reporting to him submit their annual goals for approval and then he met with them quarterly to review their progress. I liked this and adopted it with some of my staff. I also introduced this technique to clients and it has been used effectively.

This got me thinking about other successful business leaders’ autobiographies and biographies as a rich source of management and leadership guidance. What better way to learn about how to lead and manage than by reading how proven and successful leaders have done it.

Some to consider are books I wrote about that are listed here with dates posted:

• Managing the Elephant by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr Jun 14, 2012
• Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (or any biography of him) Jan 20, 2015
• Gutenberg’s Apprentice by Alix Christie Jun 23, 2015
• The Wright Brothers by David McCullough Feb 18, 2016
• First Entrepreneur by Edward G. Lengel [About George Washington] Jan 19, 2017
• Am I Being Too Subtle? By Sam Zell Aug 15, 2017

Here are others I’ve read and recommend. Note that these come quickly to mind, but there are many more and I suggest you start with someone you want to learn more about or who are in industries you are in or want to be in.

• Bernard M. Baruch
• Warren Buffett
• Mark Ecko
• Steve Jobs
• David Ogilvy
• John D. Rockefeller
• Sam Walton

These are all good reads. Biographies shouldn’t replace the many excellent leadership and management books, but it helps to round out managers and leaders that want to be more effective and grow.

I also HIGHLY recommend my autobiographical adventures as a CPA, so read Call Me Before You Do Anything (order at https://cpatrendlines.com/shop/call-me/ and use discount code EdSentMe for 25% discount).

Do not hesitate to contact me with any business or financial questions at [email protected] or fill in the form below for additional information.