"I initially wanted to be a teacher, and then I was going to become an engineer and build bridges and..." — Louis V. Gerstner, Jr.

A lot of people saved IBM. Yes, I was the leader of that team, but I could never have done it without a group of IBMers helping me.

My parents worked enormously hard to put four children through college. We didn't have a lot of money.

Quite frankly, I am not very comfortable in chitchat. When I go to board meetings, I arrive two minutes before and leave when it's over. I don't stay for lunch or go early and have coffee.

When I arrived at IBM, there were 'Team' signs all around. I asked, 'How do people get paid?' They told me, 'We pay people based on individual performance.'