Lee Iacocca Quotes & Sayings

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

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

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

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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

In the old days, if a neighbors apples fell into your yard, you worked it out over the back fence or picked them up and made pies. Today, you sue. — Lee Iacocca

The great issues facing us today are not Republican issues or Democratic issues. The political parties can debate the means, but both parties must embrace the end objective, which is to make America great again. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

The speed of the boss is the speed of the team. — Lee Iacocca

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

No matter how I'm doing financially, the Depression has never disappeared from my consciousness. To this day, I hate waste. When neckties went from narrow to wide, I kept all my old ones until the style went back to narrow. — Lee Iacocca

A guy named Charlie Beacham was my first mentor at Ford. He taught me the importance of the dealers, and he rubbed my nose in the retail business. — Lee Iacocca

In a corporation, there can only be one guy in the end: the CEO. — Lee Iacocca

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
— Lee Iacocca

I don't need a $100 million mistake. Try to make a $5 million mistake if you have to make one. — Lee Iacocca

It was emotional when Chrysler sold out to the Germans. — Lee Iacocca

I'm still not sure what is meant by good fortune and success. I know fame and power are for the birds. But then life suddenly comes into focus for me. And, ah, there stand my kids. — Lee Iacocca

People want economy, and they'll pay any price to get it. — Lee Iacocca

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

You can't have a country or a city or a state that's worth a damn unluss you govern within yourself in your day-to-day life. — Lee Iacocca

Thanks to properly selecting the clients you will not be unnecessarily wasting time. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

Greenmail, in case you're wondering, is when a company pays a raider a premium for his holdings-if he'll go away. What I think it really is is blackmail in a pin-striped suit. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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. - Lee Iacocca — Lee Iacocca

I've always felt that a manager has achieved a great deal when he's able to motivate one other person. When it comes to making the place run, motivation is everything. You might be able to 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. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

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? — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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

I was good friends with Frank Sinatra, I heard Steve Kaufman painting his portrait, so I asked Steve to paint my portrait. — Lee Iacocca

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

I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions. — Lee Iacocca

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme [ ... ] That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back in three years. We couldn't stand the government. The bureaucracy kills you. — Lee Iacocca

The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything. — Lee Iacocca

If you own up to your mistakes, you don't suffer as much. But that's a tough lesson to learn. — Lee Iacocca

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

It's a good thing god doesn't let you look a year or two into the future, or you might be sorely tempted to shoot yourself. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

Styling cars sells cars and safety does not. — Lee Iacocca

Over the years, many executives have said to me with pride: 'Boy, I worked so hard last year that I didn't take any vacation.' I always feel like responding, You dummy. You mean to tell me you can take responsibility for an eighty-million-dollar project and you can't plan two weeks out of the year to have some fun? — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

I'm sometimes described as a flamboyant leader and a hip-shooter, a fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants operator. But if that were true, I could never have been successful in this business. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is wrong with changing your mind because the facts changed? But you have to be able to say why you changed your mind and how the facts changed. — Lee Iacocca

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

Management is nothing more than motivating other people. — Lee Iacocca

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

Chrysler invented rebates, I'm sorry to say. I didn't have anything to do with that. A lot of flaky deals were made in order to give the customer enough cash for a down payment. — Lee Iacocca

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

The cement in our whole democracy today is the worker who makes $ 15 an hour. He's the guy who will buy a house and a car and a refrigerator. He's the oil in the engine. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

Don't just stand there; make something happen. — Lee Iacocca

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

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

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. — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

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

The primary skill of a manager consists of knowing how to make assignments and picking the right people to carry out those assignments — Lee Iacocca

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. — Lee Iacocca

Decisiveness is the one word that makes a good manager. — Lee Iacocca

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

I was fortunate to get a scholarship when I went to Lehigh University and Princeton. They were both wonderful schools. Somebody was kind enough to spend their money to educate people that they would never get to know. That's what I think philanthropy is about. — Lee Iacocca

The one word that makes a good manager - decisiveness. — Lee Iacocca

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

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

Bad times are indelible. They stay with you forever. — Lee Iacocca

I've got to get stop getting fired like this. People will start to think I'm a drifter. — Lee Iacocca

What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of it, because you'll be lousy at it. — Lee Iacocca