Mary Barra’s first 12 months on the job as the primary lady ever to steer a worldwide automaker was about as tough as a CEO’s first 12 months might be. Barra, a Common Motors lifer, took the helm at GM in January 2014. Just some weeks into the gig, she discovered herself navigating a catastrophic recall of tens of millions of GM-made vehicles because of defective ignition switches, a few of which had precipitated deadly accidents. Barra spent a lot of her debut 12 months on Capitol Hill, testifying in entrance of lawmakers who grilled her about why the defects had gone unfixed for thus lengthy.
It was the type of expertise that may make you need to give up earlier than 12 months two—however this January, Barra celebrated 12 months 10. Main the corporate by the recall disaster gave her momentum to reform GM’s tradition and reorganize it to arrange for an electric-vehicle revolution; it additionally helped her earn the No. 1 place on our MPW checklist from 2015 by 2017. Since then, she’s led GM to its strongest monetary place since its 2009 chapter, when the federal government was compelled to offer the automaker a monetary lifeline. And this 12 months, she reclaims our high spot.
Alongside the way in which, Barra joined an elite group. Hitting the last decade mark is a rarity for any public firm CEO, and much more so for feminine leaders: The common tenure of a Fortune 500 CEO is 7.2 years for males and simply 4.5 years for ladies. Among the many 55 ladies who presently lead Fortune 500 firms, Barra is considered one of solely 9 who’ve been CEO for a decade or extra.
To earn longevity, in fact, it’s important to ship outcomes. GM introduced in $171.8 billion final 12 months, a virtually 10% enhance 12 months over 12 months, and its finest efficiency in 17 years. Late final 12 months it reached an settlement with the United Auto Staff that ended contentious contract negotiations and a expensive, historic strike. Even with the strike’s drag on productiveness, GM raked in income of $10.1 billion, and its inventory is up almost 35% thus far in 2024—a testomony to Barra’s management.
That stated, Barra’s greatest mark on the corporate stays, properly, a query mark. The CEO has dedicated GM to the formidable aim of going all-electric by 2035—and its efforts have sputtered a little bit of late. (The corporate not too long ago backed away from a earlier goal of getting the capability to provide 1 million EVs in North America by 2025; it delivered solely 38,355 EVs within the area within the first half of 2024.) GM has additionally run into challenges in autonomous car improvement, one other precedence of Barra’s. Its self-driving subsidiary, Cruise, needed to pause operations after considered one of its automobiles was concerned in a severe accident with a pedestrian in San Francisco in late 2023; Cruise solely not too long ago resumed its robo-taxi efforts.
However as Barra says herself, transformation will not be a straight line. The CEO stays dedicated to her said aim of zero crashes, zero emissions, and nil congestion. It simply would possibly take some time to get there. Fortune caught up with Barra—interviewing her whereas she was in a automotive, naturally—to ask concerning the final 10 years, right now’s challenges, and the street forward.
What’s the key to your longevity?
A part of it’s having an important staff. But additionally it’s being agile and persevering with to know how the atmosphere is altering, not ready and letting issues occur to you, however being proactive. You understand, after I took this position, we had been nonetheless an organization in transition and shifting towards turning into a contemporary firm in an trade that was remodeling, and albeit, that transformation has solely accelerated over this 10-year interval. I’d additionally say that I’ve a extremely great board, and I leverage my board and actually get their finest considering.
You got here into the CEO position at a tricky time within the firm’s trajectory. How did that first 12 months inform your management?
[The crisis] was a possibility to display that we’re going to do the appropriate factor for our prospects, be clear, and do every part in our energy to verify this doesn’t occur once more. We lived the values. We put insurance policies in place saying we wish individuals to talk up—in case you see a problem, it’s good to say one thing. I at all times say to workers that the very best time to resolve an issue is the minute you already know you will have one. As a result of issues don’t normally get smaller, they get greater.
One of many belongings you stated again then is that you just didn’t need the corporate to overlook, to place the previous behind it. How do you try this right now, particularly with newer workers?
It’s attention-grabbing that we’re speaking this week, as a result of that is our World Security Week, which we’ve yearly. And infrequently I say we by no means need to overlook as a result of 40% of our technical expertise and most of our salaried workers have solely been with the corporate for 5 years or much less. So we’d like to verify they perceive the significance of and dedication to security. It’s not simply yearly and achieved, however yearly we actually deliver it to a head.
Your first 12 months is fairly straightforward to outline: You needed to deal with righting the ship. How do you consider your subsequent years as CEO, going into this present period?
Nicely, once we acquired to 2015 it was very clear to us that the trade was altering. It was altering in the way in which automobiles had been propelled, and the knowledge within the car—the truth that on the coronary heart of the car, there’s a lot software program and there’s a lot you are able to do with it. And naturally autonomy. As a management staff, along with our board, we determined we’re not going to attend to be disrupted. We’re going to rework.
So, in 2018 we began engaged on a worldwide EV manufacturing platform that might permit us to do one thing as small as an Equinox all the way in which as much as a supertruck like a Hummer or a supply van just like the Chevrolet BrightDrop. We bought Cruise, but in addition began intense efforts in engaged on our autonomous software program, which continues to be heralded as among the finest driver-assistance applied sciences. Then yearly we simply proceed to regulate the technique and have a look at: How can we undergo this transformation?
Internally, how do you talk about and consider the present slowdown
within the progress of demand for EVs?
Nicely, we by no means thought this may be a straight line, a linear transformation. There’s 283 million automobiles within the U.S. alone, so it’s going to take some time to alter them out. I’m very happy with all of our work getting extra reasonably priced automobiles on the market.
One of the best time to resolve an issue is the minute you already know you will have one. As a result of issues don’t normally get smaller.
As soon as individuals really feel like they’ll afford the car, and so they don’t have vary anxiousness, the subsequent factor is [charging-station] anxiousness, and so we’ve been engaged on charging. Frankly, I believe [progress with] charging has occurred a little bit gradual, however each quarter it will get higher.
I’ve at all times stated that the shopper is extraordinarily rational. This can be a very costly buy. It’s additionally a little bit of a style assertion. Why do individuals decide their vehicles? It’s an integral a part of their lives. Lots of our prospects nonetheless title their automobiles. So they need it to be there for them after they want it.
Is it simpler to rework throughout a time of disaster or considered one of consolation?
The foundational factor, I believe, is our behaviors. Early on, when individuals had been writing about Common Motors’ tradition, and the way it’s an issue, I requested myself, “What’s a tradition?” It’s a group of tales of the way in which individuals really feel each day. Do they arrive house each day and say, “I had an important day engaged on this; I’m actually excited and getting the assets I would like”? Or do they are saying, “I’m utterly annoyed. I’m attempting to do that actually cool factor, and I can’t get it achieved for every kind of different causes?”
Specializing in behaviors is one thing that we persistently pushed for, and we proceed to work on: How do we actually display behaviors which are going to permit our individuals to do their finest work and really feel valued? I believe that’s a standard ingredient.
One final query for you: What are you driving lately?
That’s among the finest components of my job, as a result of I drive so many various issues, however proper now I’ve a Hummer SUV [electric version]. I like the four-wheel steer of the car; I like sitting up excessive. I’ve additionally acquired an internal-combustion engine Blazer that I spend time in. However the Hummer SUV is the principle one I’m driving now. I believe it’s fairly cool.
Can I suppose what coloration it’s?
It’s black.
This text seems within the October/November 2024 concern of Fortune with the headline, “Marry Barra: The CEO of Common Motors accelerates into our high spot.”
