65 Lee Iacocca Quotes On Success In Life

Lido Anthony “Lee” Iacocca was an American automobile executive best known for the development of the Ford Mustang and Ford Pinto cars while at the Ford Motor Company in the 1960s, and for reviving the Chrysler Corporation as its CEO during the 1980s. These Lee Iacocca quotes will motivate you.

Best Lee Iacocca Quotes

1. “The right decision is the wrong decision if it’s made too late.” ~ Lee Iacocca
2. “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
3. “You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you anywhere.” ~ Lee Iacocca
4. “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, Lee Iacocca quotes on communication
5. “In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” ~ Lee Iacocca

6. “Listening can make the difference between a mediocre organization and a great one.” ~ Lee Iacocca

7. “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
8. “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
9. “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
10. “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

11. “To solve big problems you have to be willing to do unpopular things.” ~ Lee Iacocca

12. “Your legacy should be that you made it better than it was when you got it.” ~ Lee Iacocca
13. “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
14. “The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.” ~ Lee Iacocca
15. “The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works, is the family.” ~ Lee Iacocca
16. “If you set a good example you need not worry about setting rules.” ~ Lee Iacocca
17. “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

18. “MBAs know everything but understand nothing.” ~ Lee Iacocca

19. “The only mistake I ever made was not listening to my gut.” ~ Lee Iacocca
20. “Be creative. Use unconventional thinking. And have the guts to carry it out.” ~ Lee Iacocca
21. “I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.” ~ Lee Iacocca
22. “Don’t just stand there; make something happen.” ~ Lee Iacocca
23. “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

24. “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

25. “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
26. “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
27. “From what I’ve seen, you either get grounded in that kind of positive thinking early on in life or you don’t. Establishing priorities and using your time well aren’t things you can pick up at the Harvard Business School. 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
28. “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

29. “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

30. “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
31. “A major reason capable people fail to advance is that they don’t work well with their colleagues.” ~ Lee Iacocca
32. “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
33. “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
34. “In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits.” ~ Lee Iacocca

35. “Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.” ~ Lee Iacocca

36. “If I Had To Sum Up In One Word The Qualities That Make Up A Good Manager, I’d Say Decisiveness.” ~ Lee Iacocca
37. “What is it that you like doing? If you don’t like it, get out of it, because you’ll be lousy at it. You don’t have to stay with a job for the rest of your life, because if you don’t like it you’ll never be successful in it.” ~ Lee Iacocca
38. “Leadership means setting an example. When you find yourself in a position of leadership, people follow your every move.” ~ Lee Iacocca, Lee Iacocca quotes on leadership

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

40. “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
41. “Never rest on your oars as a boss. If you do, the whole company starts sinking.” ~ Lee Iacocca
42. “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” ~ Lee Iacocca
43. “There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.” ~ Lee Iacocca
44. “Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.” ~ Lee Iacocca

45. “Management is nothing more than motivating other people.” ~ Lee Iacocca

46. “To succeed today, you have to set priorities, decide what you stand for.” ~ Lee Iacocca
47. “It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes. But Chrysler has been in trouble before, and we got through it, and I believe they can do it again… Let’s face it, if your car breaks down, you’re not going to take it to the White House to get fixed. But, if your company breaks down, you’ve got to go to the experts on the ground, not the bureaucrats.” ~ Lee Iacocca
48. “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

49. “The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business–or almost anywhere else for that matter.” ~ Lee Iacocca

50. “The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business–or almost anywhere else for that matter.” ~ Lee Iacocca
51. “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
52. “Any supervisor worth his salt would rather deal with people who attempt too much than with those who try too little.” ~ Lee Iacocca
53. “Here’s what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities.” ~ Lee Iacocca
54. “The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being.” ~ Lee Iacocca

55. “If we screw it up, start over. Try something else.” ~ Lee Iacocca

56. “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
57. “The one word that makes a good manager – decisiveness.” ~ Lee Iacocca
58. “The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.” ~ Lee Iacocca
59. “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
60. “In business, I loved cars. I couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning. Only in America can you decide to get a good education and pursue what you like.” ~ Lee Iacocca, Lee Iacocca quotes on education

61. “If we wait until we’ve satisfied all the uncertainties, it may be too late.” ~ Lee Iacocca

62. “We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?” ~ Lee Iacocca
63. “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
64. “If you own up to your mistakes, you don’t suffer as much. But that’s a tough lesson to learn.” ~ Lee Iacocca
65. “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

Comment Your Favourite Lee Iacocca Quotes!