Lee Iacocca Quotes
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Jason wanted me to be the spokesman for Nissan when he was with them.
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The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business--or almost anywhere else for that matter.
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I always go back to Harry Truman: Should we drop an atomic bomb to save 100,000 lives? That's a hell of a decision to make. Did he make that decision by himself? No, he had advisers.
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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.
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In the great undertakings, there is glory, even in failure.
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Leadership means setting an example. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, people follow your every move.
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That's the American way. If little kids don't aspire to make money like I did, what the hell good is this country?
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It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes. But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again. [...] Let's face it, if your car breaks down, you're not going to take it to the White House to get fixed. But, if your company breaks down, you've got to go to the experts on the ground, not the bureaucrats.
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We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.
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There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.
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I was stunned. It was a complete takeover. Chrysler had $12 billion in cash and was stronger at the time and should have bought Daimler.
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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.
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The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.
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In a corporation, there can only be one guy in the end: the CEO.
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We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back.
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The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.
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People say to me, ''You were a roaring success. How did you do it?'' I go back to what my parents taught me. Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make something happen.
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If you own up to your mistakes, you don't suffer as much. But that's a tough lesson to learn.
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Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it.
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The trick is to make sure you don't die waiting for prosperity to come.
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If we screw it up, start over. Try something else.
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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.
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We at Chrysler borrow money the old fashion way. We pay it back.
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There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog, waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.