Lee Iacocca Quotes

No matter what you've done for yourself or for humanity, if you can't look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?

Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.

In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.

The kind of people I look for to fill top management spots are the eager beavers, the mavericks. These are the guys who try to do more than they're expected to do - they always reach.

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere.

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.

Listening can make the difference between a mediocre organization and a great one.

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

The right decision is the wrong decision if it's made too late.

The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.

One of the things the government can't do is run anything. The only things our government runs are the post office and the railroads, and both of them are bankrupt.

There's no great mystery to satisfying your customers. Build them a quality product and treat them with respect. It's that simple.

Mistakes are a part of life; you can't avoid them. All you can hope is that they won't be too expensive and that you don't make the same mistake twice.

To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular things.

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

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.

Don’t just stand there; make something happen.

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.

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

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

The one word that makes a good manager - decisiveness.

Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.

If we screw it up, start over. Try something else.

Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it.

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

If you make believe that ten guys in pin-striped suits are back in a kindergarten class playing with building blocks, you'll get a rough picture of what life in a corporation is like.

If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got.

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

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

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.

Are we going to be a services power? The double-cheeseburger-hold-the-mayo kings of the world?

Leadership means setting an example. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, people follow your every move.

You've got to say, "I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it." It's called perseverance.

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

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

The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.

There are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity... when things seem so bad that you've got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it.

MBAs know everything but understand nothing.

I have found that being honest is the best technique I can use. Right up front, tell people what you're trying to accomplish and what you're willing to sacrifice to accomplish it.

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

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.

Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say,"God, he said exactly what I was thinking." And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death.

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

We load up on oat bran in the morning so we'll live forever. Then we spend the rest of the day living like there's no tomorrow.

Management is nothing more than motivating other people.

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

I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.

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

I'd really love to meet the guy I'm supposed to be. I'd hire him in a second.

Most people are looking for security, a nice, safe, prosperous future. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's called the American Dream.