13.4 Lack of Vision? Again...

In chapter 7, Leadership Old and New, Cheney et al., p.184, they discuss "Visions" of the Leadership in Recent History. The books states that, "Vision is an important part of our contemporary understanding of leadership -- so much so that many of today's leaders are criticized for lacking a broad vision." Over the last couple of weeks we've seen the CEO's of Chrysler, Ford, and GMC, sitting in front of congressional committees essentially asking for $25 billion in loans. According to the reports, they need this morning in order to survive the next year. Some reports have said that if they don't receive this money, GMC may file for bankruptcy.

This past year has not been kind to our "white collar" workers. These highly educated, business-savvy individuals have made a mess of banking, the mortgage business, and now the auto industry. I am making an "essentialist assumption" (Grint's Classification of Leadership Theories, box 7.5, p.186) about the lack of "leadership" these men and women have taken.

I can understand the lack of empathy by most Americans for these CEO's from Detroit. They see the problem as not looking forward and making the necessary investments to offer alternatives --like more fuel efficient automobiles. And some of us ask, why haven't these 'great minds' collaborated with the fuel producers and looked to the future and begin creating alternative fuel sources? Maybe we have too many car companies that have the same old vision (With all due respect to the many thousands of people that may lose their jobs). Maybe we need one or two car companies that make it a priority to develop a transportation vehicle that would be dependent on sources that can be regulated and would be in abundant supply.