Quotes from Lee Iacocca

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

I always kept in mind my father's warning: "If he's bigger than you are, don't fight back. Use your head instead of your fists.

In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits. People come first. Unless you've got a good team, you can't do much with the other two.

Why don't we pass a law that says when you borrow money to buy somebody else and cannibalize him, the interest payments on those loans are not deductible? That would get the excesses out of the system pretty fast. Right now, if you want to buy up a competitor, generally you can't. That would violate the antitrust laws. But if you want to buy a company that does something else entirely, that's okay. Where's the sense in that?

If I had to sum up in one word the qualities that make a good manager, I'd say that it all comes down to decisiveness.

It looks bad right now, but remember, this too shall pass.

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. But He's a charitable Lord: He only lets you see one day at a time.

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.

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.

I began by reducing my own salary to $ 1.00 a year. Leadership means setting an example. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, people follow your every move. I don't mean they invade your privacy, although there's some of that, too. But when the leader talks, people listen. And when the leader acts, people watch. So you have to be careful about everything you say and everything you do.

But one thing was perfectly clear: John was sacrificing himself to save the company. He was over his head and he knew it. Although it meant the end of his own career, he bent over backward to make sure that the transition would go as smoothly as possible. He blew himself out of the water to bring Chrysler back to life. And that is the test of a real hero.

You can go a long way with some integrity.

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.

Setbacks are a natural part of life, and you've got to be careful how you respond to them.

But McNamara knew more than the actual facts—he also knew the hypothetical ones. When you talked with him, you realized that he had already played out in his head the relevant details for every conceivable option and scenario.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

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