Lee Iacocca People Quotations

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

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

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.

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.

In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits.

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

People say to me, ''You were a roaring success. How did you do it?'' I go back to what my parents taught me. Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there, make something happen.

The biggest mistake in my life was hiring Eaton as chairman without checking him out first, ... I didn't know him and hired the wrong guy, an error of judgment. When you make a bad people choice it hurts a lot of people for a long time.

Here's what management is about: Pick good people and set the right priorities.

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

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.

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

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.

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