Lee Iacocca

Decisiveness is the one word that makes a good manager.

If we wait until we've satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.

People want economy and they will pay any price to get it.

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

The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.

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

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.

I learned about the strength you can get from a close family life. I learned to keep going even in bad times. I learned not to despair even when my world was falling apart. I learned that there are no free lunches. And I learned the value of hard work.

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

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

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

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.

I have always found that if I move with seventy-five percent or more of the facts that I usually never regret it. It's the guys who wait to have everything perfect that drive you crazy.

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

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

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

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.

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.

What is it that you like doing If you dont like it get out of it because youll be lousy at it.

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 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.

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

The one word that makes a good manager decisiveness.

I've always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team.

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

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?

I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership.

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.

The affections are like lightning: you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen.

There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

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

If a guy is over 25 percent jerk, he's in trouble. And Henry was 95 percent.

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

Chrysler builds great cars.

We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back.

We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems.

Any supervisor worth his salt would rather deal with people who attempt too much than with those who try too little.

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.

You can have brilliant ideas but if you cant get them across your ideas wont get you anywhere.

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

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

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

The one word that makes a good manager - decisiveness.

Trouble shared is trouble halved.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

If you want to make good use of your time youve got to know whats most important and then give it all youve got.

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.

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

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

Management is nothing more than motivating other people.