Leadership Quote by Louis Gerstner

"The next thing is: we can make IBM even better. We brought IBM back but we're gunning for leadership"

Louis Gerstner, Businessman

About this Quote

Gerstner’s line has the clipped bravado of a CEO who knows morale is a balance sheet item. “The next thing is” sounds almost casual, but it’s a power move: it implies the turnaround is already settled history, a completed chapter, and anyone still debating survival is behind. That framing matters because IBM in the early 1990s wasn’t just struggling; it was a symbol of old-economy bloat getting lapped by nimbler competitors. Gerstner arrived as an outsider and made “bringing IBM back” a corporate redemption story he could own.

The subtext is less celebratory than it looks. “We brought IBM back” is collective language that spreads credit, but it also locks in a narrative: the crisis is over because leadership says so. Then he pivots: “we’re gunning for leadership.” The verb choice is telling. It’s aggressive, kinetic, almost militarized, rejecting the softer vocabulary of “stability” or “sustainable growth.” He’s not selling comfort; he’s selling appetite.

Contextually, this is IBM repositioning from hardware dominance to services, integration, and enterprise problem-solving. “Even better” is deliberately vague because the real message is directional: stop mourning the past, stop treating recovery as the finish line, start measuring yourselves against the top again. It’s also a subtle warning to internal constituencies: complacency is the new enemy, and the company’s identity will be rebuilt around competition, not legacy.

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About the Author

Louis Gerstner

Louis Gerstner (March 1, 1942 - December 25, 2025) was a Businessman from USA.

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