Maven Takes On Business Books

Far from Otter Tail -- at Google (GOOG), in fact -- Cepuch rightly praises CEO Eric Schmidt for going light on the "double talk" and "tech lingo." At every annual meeting, investors are well-served to be on the lookout for too much jargon, which obscures thought and can be indicative of a lazy mind, or worse.

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What better time to curl up with a Chrysler (DCX)-related book than the past few days, with the stock so much in the news? And Lee Iacocca has, of course, a history of success with books.

But Where Have All the Leaders Gone? (Scribner), a 263-page lament that runs about 262 pages too long, earns the Business Press Maven's Hindrance label. Iacocca starts off with some faux populist rhetoric, and things degenerate from there: "Am I the only guy in the country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage?" Trust me, Lee. I read on. I had some outrage by the end.

Iacocca then goes the most common business book route: setting down the nine C's of leadership. That said, I'll give him this for originality (as well as grandiosity): He says he shied away from a tenth to avoid comparisons with Moses.

He then goes on to tell us that "leaders are made, not born." Whether in books about investing or business leadership, this sort of simplified, hackneyed advice is potentially dangerous. The world is not so simple. Setting out into it, guided by advice that makes it appear that way, is a recipe for failure.

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