‘The Turnaround Kid’…How he does it.

The Turnaround Kid, Steve Miller, How he does it.

I recently read a wonderful book, the autobiography of Steve Miller, ‘The Turnaround Kid’. This is about the man behind Lee Iacocca. It is unquestionable that Lee Iacocca was an automaker industry genius. He convinced the government to guaranty $1.5 billion in loans so it may remain in business and then he successfully turned Chrysler around saving it from a certain demise.

He re-launched it into a successful auto manufacturer and marketing business.

He was responsible for two of the most important auto developments during his tenure, the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan…two breakthrough concepts that opened the industry ‘s eyes and the consumers pocketbooks for many years.

Lee was certainly the genius leading the way, the visionary who saw the path and dared to tread were others feared to go, a leader who inspired his managers…and who won his battles securing his vision.

Just as clear however was,  as effective as Lee was as a leader and a visionary, the front man, he needed just as excellent a back room man, the man who did the deals and handled the negotiations, who put these dreams together and made them happen.  Steve Miller, his Chief Financial Officer was that man.

The man who crunched the numbers and put together 4000 loans to satisfy the $1.5 billion dollar requirement to survive and emerge, the man who negotiated the acquisition of Jeep from American Motors, the man who  closed the doors that Lee opened. The inside man. The Lieutenant.

The book is fun to read, very exciting and very revealing. However if there is one major principal to take out of this man’s successful tenure, it is this:

Steve Miller said he never would have succeeded if his word was not iron clad. If he lacked credibility,           integrity, honor, all supported by his word, he would have failed.

If he failed to keep his word just once, he said he would have been doomed as would the deals he                 negotiated.

All the banks (2000) , the unions, their vendors, the pensions all had to believe him, trust him and rely on his word. That was his capital, that was his power, that was his ammunition. The truth. He lived and succeeded by his word and that was what allowed him to sway those who were reluctant to go along with his and Lee’s plans, vision and objectives.

Honor, defined by his unyielding commitment to keeping his word and an additional commitment to the basic principle of ‘one for all and all for one’ resulting in 4000 lenders working together to bring in $1.5 billion dollars in loans to save Chrysler from certain failure.

Each lender had the same terms and the same deal no matter how much was invested by the particular lender, they were all treated he same and each one had a veto vote be it the smallest or the largest, each would share in the benefits and the losses the same way, no one lender enjoyed any benefit over and beyond any other, one for all and all for one…and in the end Steve’s honesty, integrity and his unyielding commitment to keeping his word along with this simple proposition, one for all and all for one, won the day.

Take this home with you and do it, keep your word and your commitments.

In the end it works best of all.