How Mary Barra is Beating Elon Musk at His Own Game
The woman who’s beating Elon Musk: GM CEO Mary Barra
I just listened to an excellent 12-minute interview with GM CEO Mary Barra.
GM CEO Mary Barra envisions a future with zero crashes, emissions, and congestion, and she can only achieve this if the company’s goals are clear.
So, Mary Barra sat with her leadership team and came up with three goals: double GM’s revenue by 2030, transition to an all-electric fleet by 2035, and improve GM’s corporate culture. This focus made it easy for her to lead her company, but Barra realized she couldn’t do her job if her leadership team didn’t live the company culture, fought internally, and challenged her authority.
So, when they challenged her authority or the ability to run the company, she ignored them and focused on living up to GM’s values. Barra shifted the company culture by installing a culture of ownership and accountability: Own every problem you can solve and be accountable for everything.
Mary Barra defines culture as “what people think of the company,” which is shaped by the company’s leadership. That’s why Barra asks her leadership team to demonstrate GM’s desired behaviors and hold each other accountable consistently. This approach aims to make the cultural values real…
