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Lee Iacocca Gave 663 Speeches As Chrysler’s CEO And Learned A Valuable Lesson In Leadership

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The articles about Lee Iacocca’s death at the age of 94 have understandably focused on the tangible outcomes of his executive actions: introducing the Ford Mustang, saving Chrysler, launching the first U.S. made minivan, and many other notable achievements. We wouldn’t be talking about these milestones, however, if it hadn’t been for a talent that Iacocca sharpened over his career—communication skills. 

Upon retiring from Chrysler, Iacocca estimated that he had given 663 speeches during his 14-year tenure as the company’s CEO. Iacocca acknowledged the value of communication skills in his bestselling 1984 autobiography: “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your brains won't get you anywhere."

Iacocca wrote those words to explain the importance of joining the debate team in high school. “The most important thing I learned in school was how to communicate," Iacocca said. “The experience of being on the debating team was crucial.”

The spoken word was, indeed, a crucial part of Iacocca’s success. First, he persuaded President Jimmy Carter and Congress to provide a $1.5 billion loan to save Chrysler (the equivalent of $4.7 billion today). Second, as a TV pitchman, Iacocca showed he had few equals among America’s CEOs at the time. His famed “If you can find a better car—buy it,” television ad was so popular, it even sparked a ‘Draft Iacocca for President’ campaign. Third, Iacocca’s 663 speeches for Chrysler—and the ones that followed when he retired—inspired customers, partners and employees.

In a 2010 article featuring insights from several members of Iacocca’s speechwriting team, we learned a little more about what made Iacocca a great communicator.

1). Great communicators strive to motivate. “In every speech I give, the objective is to motivate. You can deliver information in a letter or tack it to a bulletin board,” Iaccoca said. All too often, business leaders deliver presentations that are strictly meant to inform. While there’s nothing wrong with educating your audience, failing to use words to inspire audiences to higher levels of achievement is a lost opportunity. 

“Motivation is everything," Iacocca once said. "You can do the work of two people, but you can’t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people."

2). Great communicators rehearse. According to the article, Iacocca “put in the hours to rehearse and revise each speech.” One of the biggest presentation blunders I see business leaders make is failing to rehearse. Another great communicator, Steve Jobs, rehearsed relentlessly for every major public presentation. He practiced every line, out loud, for hours and hours weeks ahead of a presentation.

Jobs and Iacocca made communication look effortless because they put a lot of effort into making it great. 

3). Great communicators are storytellers. “Iacocca was great at telling stories with a beginning, a strong middle, and an end," according to the article.

Iacocca often told the story of his parents—Italian immigrants—and the work ethic they instilled in him. In a 1986 speech to celebrate the Statue of Liberty Centennial celebration, Iacocca talked about the type of liberty millions of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island were searching for. He said: “It wasn't the liberty of streets paved with gold. It was the liberty of the shovel, the freedom of the pushcart, and the dignity of the plow . . . It was the freedom to work hard, and to keep what that hard work built."

Iacocca was at his rhetorical best when blending poetic language and stories of the immigrant experience to lift audiences to their feet.

4). Great communicators keep it simple. Iacocca avoided corporate-speak and convoluted language. "He was great at making direct statements that people could remember," said one of his speechwriters.

For example, in 1987, Chrysler came under fire for testing some cars with the odometer disconnected. The odometers were reconnected and the cars sold as new. Iacocca called a press conference and in open, authentic, and plain-spoken language, issued an apology. Iacocca acknowledged that his customers' faith should be shaken— for two reasons.

“The first was dumb. We test-drove a small percentage of our cars with the odometers disengaged and didn’t tell the customers. The second went beyond dumb and reached all the way to stupid. A few—and I mean a few—cars were damaged in testing badly enough that they probably should not have been sold as new. Those are mistakes we will never make again. Period! The only law we broke was the law of common sense…did we screw up? You bet. We’re human. Sometimes people do dumb things."

The issue passed quickly and Iacocca's trust soared. His speech is a good reminder that business leaders should fess up to mistakes quickly and use plain language to connect with their customers.

Just how great was Iacocca as a communicator? In a TIME magazine article in 2001, the reporter quotes comedian Bob Hope who said he "unwisely chose to perform after Iacocca" at a dinner gathering. "Hope has said quite seriously that he will never again let the chairman of Chrysler Corp. precede him onto the podium."

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