アイアコカ自伝(IACOCCA)
PROLOGUE
Your's about to read the story of a man who's had more than his share of successes. But along the way, there were some pretty bad times, too. In industry, the day I remember most vividriy had nothing at all tod with new cars and promotions and profits.
I began my life as the son of immigarants, and I worked my way up to the presidency of the Ford Mortor Company. When I finally got there, I was on the top the world. But then fate, said to me: "Wait. We're not finished with you. Now you're going to find out what it feels like get kicked off Mt. Everest!”
On July 13, 1978, I was fired. I had benn president of Ford for eight years and a Ford employee for thirty-two. I had never worked anywhere else. And now, suddenly, I was out of a job. It was gut-wrenching.
Offically, my term of emplyment was to end in three months. But under the terms of my “resignation,”at the end of that period Iwas to given the use of an office until I found a new job.
On October 15, my final day at the office, and just incidentally my fifty-fourth birthday, my driver drove me to World Headquarters in Dearborn for the last time. Before I left the house, I kissed my wife, Mary, and my two daughters, Kathi and Lia. My hamily had suffered tremendously during my final, turburent months at Ford, and that filled me with rage. Perhaps I was responsible for my own fate. But what about Mary and the girls? Why did they have to go through this? They were the innocent victims of the despot whose name was on the building.
Even today, their pain is waht stays with me. It's like the lioness and her cubs. If the hunnter knows what's good for him, he'll leave the little ones alone. Henry Ford made my kids suffer, and for that I'll never forgive him.
The very next day I got into my car and headed out to my new office. It was in an obsucure warehouse on Telegraph Road, only a few miles from Ford's World Headquarters. But for me, it was like visiting another planet.
I wasn't exactly sure where the office was, and it took me a few minitues to find the right building. When I finally got there, I did't even know where to park.
As it turned out, there were plenty of people around to show me,. Someone had alerted the media that the newly deposed presiden of Ford would be coming to work here this morning, and a small crowd had gathered to meet me. A TV reporter shoved a microphone in my face and asked:“How do you feel, coming to this warehouse after eight years at the top?”
I couldn't bring myself to answer him. What could I say? When I was safely out of camera range, I muttered the truth. “I feel like shit.”I said.
My new office was little more than a cubicle with a small desk and a telephone. My secretary, Dorothy Carr, was already there, with tears in her eyes. Without saying a word, she pointed to the cracked linoleum floor and the two plastic coffee cups on the desk.
Only yesterday, she and I had been working in the lap of luxury. The office of the president was the size of a grand hotel suite. I had my own bathroom. I even had my own living quarters. As a senior Ford executive, I was served by white-coated waiters who were on call all day. I once brought some relatives from Italy to see where I worked, and they thought they had died and gone to heaven.
Today, however, I could have been a million miles away. A few minutes after I arrived, the depot manager stopped by pay a courtecy call. He offered to get me a cup of coffee from the machine in the hall. It was a kind gesture, but the incongruity of my being there made us both feel awkward.
For me, this was Siberia. It was excile to the farthest corner of the kingdom. I was so stunned that it took me a few minutes before I realized I had no reason to stay. I had a telephone at home, and somebody could bring me the mail. I left that place before ten o'clock and neve went back.
This final humiliation was much worse than being fired. It was enoug to make me want kill―I wasn't quite sure who, Henry Ford or myself. Murder or suicide were never real posibilities, but I did atart to drink a little more―and shake a lot more. I really felt I was coming apart at the seams.
As you go through life, there are thousands of little forks in the road, and there are a few really big forks―those moments of reckoning, moments of truth. This was mine as I wondered what to do. Shuold I pack it all in and retire? I was fifty-four years old. I had already acommplished a great deal. I was financially secure. I could afford to play golf for the rest of my life.
But that just didn't feel right. I knew I had to pick up the pieces and carry on.
There are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity. There are times when things seem so bad that you've got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it. I'm convinced it was that morning at the warehouse that pushed me to take on the presidency of Crysler only a couple of weeks later.
The private pain I could have endured. But the deliberate public humilitation was too much for me. I was full of anger, and I had a simple choice; I could turn that anger against myself, with disastrous results. Or I could take some of that energy and try to do some productive.
“Don't get mad,”Mary reminded me. “Get even.” In times of great stress and adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.
As it turned out, I went from the frying pan into the fire. A year after I signed up, Crysler came within a whisker of bankruptey. There were many days at Crysler when I wonderes how I had got myself into this mess. Being fired at Ford was bad enough. But going down with the ship at Crysler was more than I deserved.
Fortunately, Crysler recovered from its brush with death. Today I'm a hero. But strangely enough, it's all because of that moment of truth at the warehouse. With determination, with luck, and with help from lots of good people, I was able to rise up from the ashes.
Now let me tell you my story.
My opinion:I bought this paperbook in 1995. Today:2008, I am surprized at the speed of the technology, for exsamle IT, Motor car and so on.
2008.6.14
一 If you ask me the name of my professor in college or graduated school, I’d have trouble coming up with more tan three or four. But I still remember the teachers who molded me in elementary and high school.
二 I felt like a rug merchant who needed to raise some cash in a hurry. And my spirits were low because wherever I turned, there was nobody saying, “ Give it a go, you can make it.”
三 At the same time, he hated to see any of us unhappy and would always try to cheer us up. Whenever I was worried about anything, he’d say: “Tell me, Lido, what were you so upset about last month? Or last year? See-you don’t even remember! So maybe what you’re so worried about today isn’t really all that bad . Forget it, and more on to tomorrow.”
1、One exercise I remember was that we had to talk off the cuff or two minutes about something we know nothing about --such as Zen Buddhism,for example.
2、I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. After all, a good manager needs to listen at least as much as he needs to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.
3、If you want to give him a man credit, put it in writing. If you want to give him hell ,do it on the phone.
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