Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca is an American automobile executive best known for spearheading the development of Ford Mustang and Pinto cars, while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and then later for reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s.
Iacocca was a passionate advocate of U.S. business exports during the 1980s. Portfolio named Iacocca the 18th-greatest American CEO of all time.
Born: October 15, 1924 (age 92)
Books: Iacocca: An Autobiography, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?, Iacocca 2 – Hablando Claro
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?
My father always used to say that when you die, if you’ve got five real friends, then you’ve had a great life.
Trouble shared is trouble halved.
In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.
To succeed today, you have to set priorities, decide what you stand for.
The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.
The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.
Management is nothing more than motivating other people.
The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.
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.
Get all the education you can then go out and do something – do anything.
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.
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.
There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.
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.
In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.
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.
The right decision is the wrong decision if it’s made too late.
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.
Don’t just stand there; make something happen.
You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.
Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don’t just stand there, make it happen.
Listening can make the difference between a mediocre organization and a great one.
If you set a good example you need not worry about setting rules.
Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.
