Alan Mulally

“A gas tax could be one important element of an integrated energy policy.”

“I taught my executive team how to argue.”

“When work is what you love to do, it's not work - it's serving.”

“You can't manage a secret.”

“We've always loved the automobile, and we all love Henry Ford's original vision to open the highways to all mankind, the freedom and movement.”

“The Chinese love Ford's product line: they love the quality, the fuel-efficiency, the safety, the brand.”

“My favorite expression is a tag line or an advertising and marketing campaign that Ford ran a number of years ago. They ran it for almost 12 years, and it was, 'Have you driven a Ford lately?'”

“Never make a joke or try for humor at someone else's expense. In a high-stakes environment, everyone needs to feel safe.”

“I drive a different car every night.”

“The most important thing that most countries around the world believe in is letting the markets determine the currency.”

“It's all about competitiveness: are you making the products that people really do want and value, and are you making it more efficiently and using less resources and less time than the competition?”

“A lot of people don't want to get bad news.”

“I had a great life at Boeing. I'd been there for 37 years and contributed to all the Boeing airplanes as a designer: the 707, 727, 37, 47, 57, 67 and 'triple 7' and the 87.”

“It's just really important that we have boundaries and guidelines to operate. Our homes, the cars, everything is going to be on the Internet. And so what are the guidelines? What do we want?”

“It is just more rewarding to do things in a supportive environment.”

“Some people believe the U.S. can't compete in the design and manufacture of sophisticated products. I think we absolutely can if we pull together. We have shown that we can do that in commercial airplanes, and we can absolutely prove that we can do that in automobiles.”

“We don't worry over macro-economic factors when investing, as we are always thinking about the long-term.”

“We're so interdependent, and what one country does is such an important part of what happens in the global economy.”

“The similarities between commercial airplanes and automobiles are striking. It's all about safe and efficient transportation using the latest technology and the best fuel efficiency.”

“This working together is just so important: you're either working together, or you're not working together.”