Mary Barra is the CEO of General Motors and the first female to lead a global automaker. Her education and whole career has been devoted to GM, starting with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the General Motors Institute; followed by a Masters of Business Administration at Stanford through a GM fellowship.

A GM Life

She first worked for GM as a co-op student at age 18 to help pay for her education, and went on to hold various positions in engineering and administration. She went from being a plant manager to VP of Global Manufacturing Engineering to VP of Global Human Resources then VP of Global Product Development and finally becoming the CEO in 2014!

Her influence is felt outside GM as she was elected to the board of Disney in 2017 and also serves on the board at General Dynamics, Detroit Economic Club and is a member of The Business Council, an organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C. She is also a member of Stanford University’s Board of Trustees and is on their Graduate School of Business advisory council.

Interestingly GM ranked first on the 2018 Global Report on Gender Equality and is one of only two businesses that have no gender pay gap. Mary Barra is actually the highest paid out of all the CEO’s of the Detroit’s big three automakers.

Mary Barra’s Management Style

Barra is known for moving quickly and decisively, not wasting time over-analyzing. She feels that a great though not acted on is as good as not thinking at all. She has said that with 80% of the information one can probably make good decisions with changes made later if new information comes in.

Her reputation is one of endless understanding and vision with a special talent for persuasion. She is considered fearless in finding problems and dealing with them and doesn’t spend much energy with the way things have always been done.

Innovative

Under Barra’s leadership GM was the first company to make self-driving cars via assembly line. They have invested in electronic vehicle technology and ridesharing, look like the most prepared company to face all the changes technology is bringing to the auto industry. According to CNN, they have the best technology and 10 years of experience with “networked cars”.

Our Favourite Mary Barra Quote is:

“We don’t have a right to exist; we have to earn our right to be General Motors.” – Mary Barra

May Barra is a fearless leader and just one of the business executives we have featured in our “Business Icons” blog series. The Acquisition Group is inspired by great leaders and always looking for new team members. Check out our careers page to find a good fit for you!