Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca was an American automobile executive best known for the development of Ford Mustang and Pinto cars, while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and for reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s. Profoundly inspirational Lee Iacocca quotes will fire up your brain and encourage you to look at life differently while making you laugh.
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Famous Lee Iacocca Quotes
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
Any supervisor worth his salt would rather deal with people who attempt too much than with those who try too little. Lee Iacocca
Management is nothing more than motivating other people. Lee Iacocca
The speed of the boss is the speed of the team. Lee Iacocca
You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere. 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
We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. 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
I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership. 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 drives you crazy. Lee Iacocca
The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen. Lee Iacocca
Every business and every product has risks. You can’t get around it. Lee Iacocca
We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves How much clean air do we need? Lee Iacocca
I forgot to shake hands and be friendly. It was an important lesson about leadership. 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
The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut. Lee Iacocca
I guess I invented extended warranties, because that’s all we had to sell at Chrysler in those days. Lee Iacocca
If you set a good example you need not worry about setting rules. 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
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. Lee Iacocca
People want economy and they will pay any price to get it. Lee Iacocca
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. Lee Iacocca
Chrysler builds great cars. Lee Iacocca
Boys, there ain’t no free lunches in this country. And don’t go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You’ve got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it. It’s called perseverance. 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
The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen. Lee Iacocca
Decisiveness is the one word that makes a good manager. 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
The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family. Lee Iacocca
How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all, they are willing to endure. Lee Iacocca
There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men. Lee Iacocca
The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being. 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
Management is nothing more than motivating other people. 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
So what do we do? Anything. Something. So long as we just don’t just sit there. Lee Iacocca
The affections are like lightning you cannot tell where they will strike till they have fallen. Lee Iacocca
To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular things. 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
To succeed today, you have to set priorities, decide what you stand for. 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
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
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
We are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. Lee Iacocca
I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way. Lee Iacocca
You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere. 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
When the product is right, you don’t have to be a great marketer. Lee Iacocca
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. Lee Iacocca
In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words; people, product, and profits. Unless you’ve got a good team, you can’t do much with the other two. Lee Iacocca
We at Chrysler borrow money the old-fashioned way. We pay it back. Lee Iacocca
Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it. Lee Iacocca
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. Lee Iacocca
There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men. 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
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. Lee Iacocca
It was emotional when Chrysler sold out to the Germans. Lee Iacocca
Decisiveness is the one word that makes a good manager. 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
If I had to sum up in a word what makes a good manager, I’d say decisiveness. Lee Iacocca
Trouble shared is trouble halved. 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 a corporation, there can only be one guy in the end: the CEO. 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
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
The speed of the boss is the speed of the team. 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
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
I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. After all, a good manager needs to listen at least as much as he needs to talk. Lee Iacocca
In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits. Lee Iacocca
Listening can make the difference between a mediocre organization and a great one. Lee Iacocca
Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don’t just stand there, make it happen. Lee Iacocca
Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Lee Iacocca
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. 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
To succeed today, you have to set priorities, decide what you stand for. Lee Iacocca
The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything. 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
The trick is to make sure you don’t die waiting for prosperity to come. 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
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 one word that makes a good manager decisiveness. 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
The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything. Lee Iacocca
How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure. Lee Iacocca
I’ve always found that the speed of the boss is the speed of the team. Lee Iacocca
Don’t just stand there; make something happen. Lee Iacocca
If a guy is over 25 percent jerk, he’s in trouble. And Henry was 95 percent. Lee Iacocca
Can use the fanciest computers to gather the numbers, but in the end, you have to set a timetable and act. 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
You’ll be sorry. Lee Iacocca
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. Lee Iacocca
