Lou Gerstner Quotes

A collection of quotes by Lou Gerstner.

Lou Gerstner is a renowned American businessman, best known for his remarkable turnaround of IBM in the 1990s. He was born on March 1, 1942, in Mineola, New York. Gerstner earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College in 1963, and later obtained an MBA in finance from Harvard Business School in 1965.

Gerstner began his career at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, where he worked for over a decade and became a partner. In 1989, he joined American Express as the head of its Travel Related Services division. During his tenure there, Gerstner successfully expanded the company's international operations and introduced new technologies.

However, his most significant achievement came in 1993 when Gerstner was appointed as CEO of IBM. At the time, the company was facing major financial struggles and organizational challenges. Gerstner implemented a transformative strategy, shifting the focus to services and software rather than just hardware, which was instrumental in IBM's resurgence.

Under his leadership, IBM experienced a dramatic turnaround, achieving consecutive quarters of growth and surpassing Wall Street expectations. Gerstner also played a pivotal role in championing diversity within the company and promoting a customer-centric culture.

After leaving IBM in 2002, Gerstner served on the boards of multiple corporations, including The Carlyle Group and American Express. He authored a highly acclaimed book titled "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" which details his experiences in reviving IBM.

Lou Gerstner's exceptional leadership and strategic vision not only revitalized IBM but also earned him recognition as one of the most successful business executives of his time.

I think that my leadership style is to get people to fear st

I think that my leadership style is to get people to fear staying in place, to fear not changing.

Lou Gerstner

Leadership

You can never be comfortable with your success, you've got t

You can never be comfortable with your success, you've got to be paranoid you're going to lose it.

Lou Gerstner

Success

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a stra

You have to be fast on your feet and adaptive or else a strategy is useless.

Lou Gerstner

Action(s)

Watch the turtle. He only moves forward by sticking his neck

Watch the turtle. He only moves forward by sticking his neck out.

Lou Gerstner

Risk

It's about communication. It's about honesty. It's about tre

It's about communication. It's about honesty. It's about treating people in the organization as deserving to know the facts. You don't try to give them half the story. You don't try to hide the story. You treat them as - as true equals, and you communicate and you communicate and communicate.

Lou Gerstner

Communication

This really is a merger of equals. I wouldn't have come back

This really is a merger of equals. I wouldn't have come back to work for anything less than this fantastic opportunity. This lets me combine my two great loves - technology and biscuits.

Lou Gerstner

Technology