Where have all the leaders gone?

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I just finished Lee Ioccocca’s book on leadership, “Where Have all the Leaders Gone? The message is right on although I found it to be a little self serving.

My new book (due out this fall), is directed at small business leaders, small business as defined by the SBA at less than 500 employees. I have always wanted to write a book based on my 35 years experience, 15 of which were as a CEO of two mid-ranged companies. One was nearly $50MM in annual sales, and I think I made every mistake there was to make. I got into business coaching after semi-retirement to try and help a few other avoid some of the same missteps.

I got the inspiration to go ahead after reading an article in the paper about America losing it’s edge. The guy was stumped as to where we are going wrong.

I guess my I have a more pertinent question for “small” business owners and CEO’s, why isn’t everybody as mad as hell and screaming their heads off?

What’s wrong with us, have we just lost so much faith in the government we don’t even complain anymore. The SBA says 80% of job creation in the last decade came from small business, yet we’re sending billions on huge corporations that are “too big to fail”. In the meantime the big banks that took all of that money are strangling small business with the unwillingness to loan money. There are very few asset based lenders for small business, and term loans for equipment are hard to come by.

I have a client that has an existing 4 year loan on equipment. He’s paid off two years of it, and has seen his net margin increase by a factor of 8 in a down economy, and his bank has told another lender they’d like to get out. Can you believe that?

Once again if anyone else is seeing this why aren’t we mad as hell?

I guess the banks would rather keep feeding the big guys that are guaranteed by the government that the small guy that has to do personal guarantees.