The Three Things (Walter Chrysler)

Walter Chrysler, leading industrialist and founder of Chrysler Corporation, looked for just three things when hiring men. Here, Chrysler talks about the time he hired Colonel A.C. Downey, then a newcomer to the business...

"I knew three things about him," Chrysler said. "He was honest; he was loyal; he had ability. That is all I ask from any man. I don't care how raw the ability is; that can be developed through experience. But unless a man is loyal and honest, I don't want him associated with me."(1)

Walter Chrysler understood that you can always teach a man how to build a car. But it's much harder to give him character and ability. Colonel A.C. Downey went on to become the general purchasing agent for the entire Chrysler Corporation.

(1)Vincent Curcio, Chrysler: The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 268.