Mary Barra is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Company. She was chosen as Chairman of the GM Board of Directors in 2016 but has served as CEO of GM since 2014. According to General Motors (2018), “She’s focused on strengthening GM’s core business of great cars, trucks and crossovers, while also working to lead the transformation of personal mobility through advanced technologies like connectivity, electrification, autonomous driving and car sharing.
Barra has also established a strategic direction based on putting the customer at the center of everything the company does.” Mary Barra was the first woman in history to lead the “Big Three” American automakers and gained footing as a Chief Executive Officer for the company in the middle of a decade-long company cover-up regarding faulty vehicle ignition switches (Rafferty, 2015).
Mary Barra achieved success as a Chief Executive Officer in a historically male-dominated industry and was able to reach the top at a time when only thirteen percent of engineers were women (American Association of University Women, 2013). Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a student in the General Motors Institute at the Pontiac Motor Division, and then graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985. She continued her education and received a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1990 (General Motors, 2018).
Her father was a factory worker for GM, so his commitment to the company was of great influence; however, Mary Barra continued to navigate General Motors swiftly from intern, to General Director of Internal Communications, and vice president positions throughout the company. Finally, Mary Barra was named Chief Executive Officer in 2014, and then Chairman in 2016. Combining the two top positions stirred criticism among investors since some studies have shown that businesses organized in such a fashion have less shareholder-friendly governance practices (Lublin, 2013). Barra gained the confidence, respect, and power as a leader by displaying her loyalty to the company through hard work and subject matter expertise. She was able to build rapport and engage in conversations, building instant bonds with the workforce; and so, once she established credibility, skepticism was erased (Colias, 2013).
This knowledge granted Mary Barra an effective strategy for rational persuasion, and she gained the influence of General Motors professionals (DuBrin, 2016). General Motors personnel recognized that they could trust Barra’s industry experience, and the workforce realized her decisions reflected the best interest for everyone. Fortune even chose Mary Barra as number one in their list of Most Powerful Women in 2015 (Ross, 2016).
According to DuBrin (2016), leadership effectiveness is the combined influence of the leader characteristics, behavior, and style, group member characteristics and behavior, and the context of the environment. Does Mary Barra have the right stuff to differentiate her from all the leaders that preceded her at General Motors? How have her behaviors and personal characteristics aligned her with success for the company? Mary Barra shouldered the brunt of a crisis upon entering the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2014. The situation was so intense that critics questioned whether she was purposely thrust into the disaster that was titled the “Switchgate” scandal (Rafferty, 2015).
Other research suggests that women are often promoted during times of crisis and then dismissed and criticized when they fail (Muller, 2014). But somehow, even amid expectations for defeat, she confronted the crisis head-on and emerged triumphantly exhibiting evidence of effective leadership. Her success as a leader can be contributed to her high level of emotional intelligence, her method of inclusive leadership, and her attention to leading General Motors with ethical practices and integrity to transform the culture. As Mary Barra states, “If we win without integrity, we haven’t won. It’s that simple” (General Motors, 2018).
Emotional intelligence was first presented in 1997 by academic researchers as an ability to perceive, process, and manage emotions but has since been endorsed as a set of emotional and social skills (Thory, 2016). Daniel Goleman also stated that ‘a leader’s singular job is to get results’ (Batool, 2013). A leader must exhibit traits and motives connected to interpersonal effectiveness to be regarded as emotionally intelligent (DuBrin, 2016). Do leaders have the ability to connect with others? Are they self-aware and socially aware? Are they able to self-manage themselves and appropriately establish relationships within their organization in order to develop and foster success? Daniel Goleman discovered that effective leaders share the key element of a high degree of emotional intelligence (DuBrin, 2016).
Mary Barra distinguishes herself as an effective leader for General Motors in her adept ability to build relationships and connect with individuals within the organization along with consumers. She has been described as well-balanced and self-aware, with a strong ability to remain focused (Klayman & Seetharaman, 2014). Those around her can have confidence that she is able to control her own emotions and have empathy for the emotions of others.
Prior to becoming the CEO of GM, analysts expected that Mary Barra would be “very inclusive, very open” with her style of coaching and team-building versus top-down management (Eisenstein, 2013). Effective leaders engage with their workforce as a good coach and motivator, and in turn, enable growth and development (DuBrin, 2016). Barra’s predecessor, Dan Akerson, also suggested that her emotional quotient was as much of a strength as was her IQ, and that General Motors had faith that she would be able to move the company forward (Eisenstein, 2013). Dr. Mohammad Torfeh, a professor at Kettering, also remarked that Mary Barra was a leader that was able to balance her technical prowess with adept communication skills appropriate for each situation (Gittleson, 2014). Leaders with keen communication skills build a foundation for connecting with those around them.
The success of General Motors Corporation can be attributed to Mary Barra’s inclusive style of leading the company and forming relationships. She has been said to exhibit a consultative/consensus leadership style vs. the autocratic style of her predecessors, Dan Akerson and Bob Lutz. Barra has been labeled as having a “quiet personality” and leads with a consensus approach but is known for the ability to be concise and decisive (McGregor, 2013). “If we don’t have complete unanimity, I have no qualms about making it. I want tension in a constructive way to make sure we evaluate things from every angle” (Engelmeier, 2014). At the time when Barra’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer began, GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky expressed, “She’s bringing order to chaos. And she does it in a calm, direct way” (Colias, 2013).
Listening to others has been an integral characteristic of Barra’s leadership style and has established her influence with the GM workforce. Individuals that work alongside her recognize that she invests the time to listen, but understands that “When she speaks, you better listen” (Gittleson, 2014). In this inclusive environment, employees could voice opinions as Barra gauges information and provides input. This manner of leadership increases organizational productivity and employee engagement, and it has proven effective to mobilize success (Engelmeier, 2014). Barra shows that she is open to new ideas and is flexible; exhibiting this strength bestows humility and a capacity for growth. It is quite apparent that everyone at GM is on the same team, which fosters a commitment for everyone to work together for the same end goal with Mary Barra’s leadership.
Mary Barra credits many of her accomplishments in life to listening to others. She has expressed that “It’s important to surround yourself with people that challenge you and tell you when and why you are wrong” (Lynch, 2016). Humility allows leaders to recognize that they are not perfect and have the ability for growth and development. Failure is necessary for change to occur. Witnessing failure is also influential; failure can connect us to others if we believe that they are similar. We are human; we are with faults and imperfections, but we can learn and grow. Effective leaders employ this strategy and it affords them a more engaged and motivated workforce.
Mentorship also improved Barra’s leadership capability and expertise. Mary Barra explained, “You get to a new position, you work really hard and you earn people who are willing to support you, because they see how hard you’re working and they’re willing to extend a bit of their personal capital” (Mooney, 2014). Such support and acknowledgment from an experienced leader can influence the career of their protege. Barra elucidated that different people recognize differing qualities in us in a variety of contexts and stages during life and our career (Center for Creative Learning, n.d.). These additional insights provide further opportunity for personal development, and so she credits her success to others in this way.
Barra is also known to recognize the achievements of her team before herself. Mary Barra remarks, “At the end of the day, all businesses are about people first- because the only way we can build genuinely successful businesses is to build lasting relationships inside and outside the company. We do that by holding ourselves accountable, by doing what we say we are going to do, and by inspiring others to strive for something bigger than themselves” (Lynch, 2016).
Empowering leadership practices have been an effective leadership tool for Mary Barra. She demonstrates initiative and transparency. Through empowerment and the encouragement of self-leadership, Barra institutes accountability for herself, the GM workforce, and the automotive industry as a whole. Barra emphasizes, “If we win the hearts and minds of employees, we’re going to have better business success” (Mooney, 2014). She recognizes the importance of connecting with her workforce and the influence the actions and behavior can have on the strategy for the organization. When a workforce knows and trusts the leader, they are more likely to show an investment in the work mission. Trust is eminently persuasive, and if employees and customers trust Mary Barra, she proves to be an effective Chief Executive Officer for GM.
DuBrin (2016) clarifies that a powerful leader empowers team members to accomplish goals on their own which strengthens performance. Mary Barra understood that when employees are empowered with the tools to make their own decisions, and are held accountable, they are more invested in the work. Barra made strides, such as simplifying the company dress code from ten pages to a very trusting statement of “dress appropriately,” acknowledging that employees could be accountable for their own actions (Newcomb, 2017). Barra is known to enter the position of CEO for General Motors at a time when the company needed a major organizational overhaul.
Mary Barra took steps to empower her workforce, “Because we found that sometimes people hid behind the rules and didn’t like them but didn’t necessarily step up. So, this encouraged people to step up” (Mooney, 2014). She recognized the need for employees to feel connected to decisions to commit a greater level of investment in the vision at GM.
Mary Barra lead GM successfully through the deadliest recall in the history of the automaker industry (Newcomb, 2017). Barra acted decisively, lead with compassion for those impacted, assessed the scenario strategically, all while remaining calm and stable. She recognized the significance of being transparent and accountable, and she didn’t back down. In submitted testimony Barra expressed, “It’s time- in fact, it’s past time- to insist on total accountability and make sure that vital information is shared across all functions in our company, so we can unleash the full power of our 200,000 employees, our 21,000 dealers, and our 23,000 suppliers” (Plant Engineering, 2014).
Barra recognized that in order to gain credibility she had to create a new culture at GM that operated differently than it had before. Her effectiveness as a leader depended on it. She expressed her biggest take-away regarding the gravity of the auto bailout and GM transition as, “If you have a problem, you’ve got to solve it. Because that problem is going to get bigger and bigger in six months. It could be bigger in two years. But it’s not going to get smaller with time” (Mooney, 2014). Barra was intolerant of the conservative culture at GM and moved swiftly and decisively to make the necessary changes. Previous CEO, Dan Akerson, noted her adept ability to make demanding decisions with ease, and it helped her to earn the respect of other executives and the GM workforce (Colias, 2013).
Transformational leaders bring about positive change in the organization, but in order for Barra to have altered this culture, she needed to be sincere and be trusted by all those involved. According to DuBrin (2016), transformational leaders exhibit a powerful relationship with follower job satisfaction and motivation, organizational performance, leader performance, and the rated effectiveness of the leader. Mary Barra is an effective Chief Executive Officer for General Motors; she is focused on connections, and small changes, and left abstraction in the distance (Colias & Stein, 2014).
Her effectiveness as a leader for General Motors depended on it. Ethical leadership behaviors, such as honesty, trustworthiness and having integrity exemplified Mary Barra as an effective Chief Executive Officer for General Motors. Barra understands that attention needs to be given to all stakeholders. She invests in building trust, building community, and respecting individuals. She recognizes her ability to be persuasive and connect with others and understands that both failure and growth are a part of development if accountability is considered. According to Mary Barra, we have the power to be effective in our grasp, and “If we can be candid and transparent, there’s nothing we can’t solve” (Ross, 2016).
