10 Years in GM CEO Mary Barra’s Shoes

Paresh Jadhav

10 months ago

Barra took over an automaker that was emerging from bankruptcy and slowly rebuilding itself; but their culture needed shaking up.

She stands out from her predecessors by taking decisive action without waiting for every piece of data to come together before acting; often making bold and unexpected moves such as selling off Opel and Vauxhall brands owned by General Motors Europe.

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GM’s Ignition Switch Crisis

Barra has used the ignition switch crisis as an opportunity to address General Motors’ bureaucratic cover-your-butt culture and has made significant strides toward clarifying its vision, encouraging bottom-up communication, increasing accountability for results, as well as creating a safe, diverse, enabled, aligned culture within her organization.

Barra faced an immediate challenge during her first year, facing down a large safety recall of smaller vehicles due to defective ignition switches resulting in 124 deaths. To address it quickly and minimize collateral damage, she mobilized her company quickly while testifying before Congress and setting up a victim compensation fund with few restrictions and limits.

Since Barra took the helm at General Motors (GM), investments and acquisitions such as Lyft and Cruise Automation have been made. Her investments, along with fast-tracking of Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV production shows she is leading her organization into its future despite COVID-19’s challenges; showing she is an adept leader who can think strategically and navigate high pressure environments; as well as being an indefatigable systems thinker who has worked tirelessly on improving governance, strategy and architecture systems at GM.

GM’s Shared Transportation Company Lyft

Barra is an engineer by training, with an intuitive ability to anticipate what lies ahead. Her mind seems wired for envisioning what may come, just like improving people’s lives comes naturally to her.

She has made significant progress with GM’s plan to transform into a technology company, prioritizing electric vehicles and autonomous driving as new pathways towards market leadership. Her no-nonsense management philosophy of delegating authority while keeping costs under control has resulted in consistent progress at GM.

She’s currently working with Lyft on a pilot program to allow those without their own cars to rent GM vehicles for ride sharing, opening several hubs where drivers will pick up and drop off passengers using used Bolt electric vehicles – potentially expanding GM’s reach beyond existing partnerships with rival Uber Technologies Inc. as well as driving sales of its new EV models.

GM’s Electric Vehicles

In the 1980’s GM made an unprecedented move when they contracted AeroVironment as an outside firm to design its prototype electric car. This marked a break with past practice of having internal divisions tackle this task; rather than doing it themselves they believed an independent firm would better comprehend emerging technology while being free of divisional boundaries.

The company invested $27 billion into their electric vehicle program with the goal of producing 30 models by 2025 as part of their larger plan to switch away from traditional vehicles which produce emissions to electric ones which do not.

Barra has successfully guided General Motors toward an all-electric future, although that wasn’t always her top priority. She focused on getting finances and operations under control first before initiating its next stage – opening two battery plants in Tennessee and Kentucky that will help make them one of the largest carmakers producing electric vehicles.

GM’s Future

Barra has transformed GM’s culture by encouraging employees to voice their ideas and listening attentively when they do so. She’s made it clear that she doesn’t require all the answers before making decisions, believing a great idea left unused is as effective as any.

She has led the company through several crises with remarkable resilience, including testifying before Congress about an ignition switch scandal that resulted in 12 deaths. Furthermore, she has advocated for an electric future by offering electric vehicle options and setting an ambitious carbon neutrality goal.

Though it’s too soon to say whether Mary Barra will become another Lee Iacocca-type business legend, her presence and influence can already be felt across the auto industry and society as a whole. Her leadership has transformed GM from an outdated institution into one with new relevance in an age of autonomous connected electric shared technology typhoons like ACES (Autonomous Connected Electric Shared). By positioning it for long-term success and not getting left behind.

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