Louis V. Gerstner Jr.

“You can't manage what you can't measure.”

“The notion that the customer is always right is not true. You have to create the right customer.”

“If you don't have a competitive advantage, don't compete.”

“The turnaround was not about technology or products or services. It was all about culture.”

“I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn't just one aspect of the game, it is the game.”

“The culture of any organization is shaped by the worst behavior the leader is willing to tolerate.”

“The turnaround of IBM is a story about focus, and it's a story about execution.”

“Never let anyone own your schedule.”

“You have to be willing to be an outsider.”

“People don't do what you expect but what you inspect.”

“The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.”

“If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy.”

“The single-most important determinant of a company's success is its culture.”

“You can't lead people you don't know. You can't know them if you don't believe in them, and you can't believe in them if you don't care about them.”

“I learned that you are not going to be a leader by saying, 'I am a leader.' You are a leader when you have followers.”

“People don't do what you expect but what you inspect.”

“The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision.”

“In the end, an organization is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.”

“You can't just do one thing. You have to do a lot of things, and you have to do them with a sense of urgency.”

“Solving the problem is the most important thing. It's not about winning or losing. It's about solving the problem.”