Lee Iacocca Quotes

MBAs know everything but understand nothing.

Incompetency begets incompetency. The last thing a guy who isn't sure of himself wants is a guy backing him up who is sure of himself.

I was at Ford for 32 years. I went to Chrysler in 1978, four or five months after I got canned by Henry Ford.

A major reason capable people fail to advance is that they don't work well with their colleagues.

To succeed today, you have to set priorities, decide what you stand for.

When the product is right, you don't have to be a great marketer.

Management is nothing more than motivating other people.

In business, I loved cars. I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning. Only in America can you decide to get a good education and pursue what you like.

Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people.

I learned that monthly payments are the cornerstone of everything in the automobile business.

The trick is to make sure you don't die waiting for prosperity to come.

A good deal is a state of mind.

Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.

Chrysler builds great cars.

Be creative. Use unconventional thinking. And have the guts to carry it out.

We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?

Here's what we should be doing. We've got to get off fossil fuels.

My father used to say, 'You can spend a lot of time making money. The tough time comes when you have to give it away properly.' How to give something back, that's the tough part in life.

If your product is great, you yourself do not have to be a great seller.

If I Had To Sum Up In One Word The Qualities That Make Up A Good Manager, I'd Say Decisiveness.

In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits.

Never rest on your oars as a boss. If you do, the whole company starts sinking.

I guess that's one achievement I'm really proud of. Saving Chrysler was more than jobs, more than shareholder value. Saving Chrysler was a good idea for the whole country.

Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make it happen.

I guess I invented extended warranties, because that's all we had to sell at Chrysler in those days.

If you set a good example you need not worry about setting rules.

I was raised to give back. I was born to immigrant parents and was fortunate to become successful at an early age. I've always felt a strong sense of national service to my country, and I may have been able to provide leadership in the political arena. I don't regret the decision not to enter politics, I just wonder sometimes if I could have changed anything.

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.

A little righteous anger really brings out the best in the American personality. Our nation was born when 56 patriots got mad enough to sign the Declaration of Independence. We put a man on the moon because Sputnik made us mad at being number two in space. Getting mad in a constructive way is good for the soul- and the country.

If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I'd say decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end you have to set a timetable and act.

There's a billboard in a little farm town in the Midwest that says: IF YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT FARMERS, DON'T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL.

The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.

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.

You, my friend, alone are equal to a hundred of such friends. Happy Birthday to you.

Every business and every product has risks. You can't get around it.

Life can be difficult for kids born with a gold spoon in their mouth, because they never really get to find out if they're able to work hard and make it on their own.

The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut.

That's the American way. If little kids don't aspire to make money like I did, what the hell good is this country?

The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.

From what I've seen, you either get grounded in that kind of positive thinking early on in life or you don't. Establishing priorities and using your time well aren't things you can pick up at the Harvard Business School. Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.

A country's competitiveness starts not on the factory floor or in the engineering lab. It starts in the classroom.

In the great undertakings, there is glory, even in failure.

Here's what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities.

The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.

They've got about as many lawyers as we have sumo-wrestlers.

Formal learning can teach you a great deal, but many of the essential skills in life are the ones you have to develop on your own.

So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don't sit there. If we screw it up, start over. Try something else. If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.

Get all the education you can then go out and do something - do anything.