Current GM CEO: Mary T. Barra
By Max Pairaudeau
Mary T. Barra was promoted to CEO of GM in 2014, following numerous roles she held at different levels throughout the organization, she started her career with GM at 18 years old. Barra is the first woman to reach the position of CEO in GM and CEO of a large multinational auto manufacturer.
Barra can be seen as a visionary, transformational leader for GM she has taken the leadership approach to empower her subordinates. This has been done in a variety of ways. Firstly, she has delegated major decision-making authority to division managers and team leaders, giving them greater autonomy, when subordinates are given greater levels of autonomy, they feel more valued by the organization and will therefore have higher organizational commitment. This is will result in higher levels of job satisfaction and the employee accepting the higher degree of accountability that comes along with being given more autonomy.
Barra also stresses the idea that management has to create the. Environment for employees to make the best products for GM to sell to customers, in the past this was not something that was being done leading to vehicles that were undesirable for customers.
Her vast experience has allowed her to understand how employees will react to change for example the change in dress code policy was trimmed down from a manual into two simple words “dress appropriately” as Barra trusted that employees would be able to come to work dressed appropriately for their role and associated tasks.
Furthermore, Barra has employed the idea of open and honest communication in both her role as CEO and prior roles within GM for example she made the statement “no more crappy cars,” perhaps this is the reason GM has turned itself around, by being open and honest about the issues facing the company informs staff of what the problems are it also allows visionary leaders such as Barra to enlighten staff about the direction she wanted to see the company move towards.
Leaders are pushed to their limits in situations of crisis, in tumultuous times both internal and external stakeholders see who the best leaders are. For Barra quickly after taking on the role of CEO she was confronted with a massive safety issue due to faulty ignition switches in millions of GM’s vehicles, she acted quickly by issuing recalls and investigating the root cause of the issue, upon completion of the investigation it was found that GM’s corporate culture had a major role in the scandal as employees did not feel comfortable airing their concerns, and when they did they were simply ignored. Barra implemented measures, such as the “Speak Up For Safety” hotline, to reduce the chances of another safety issue like this one from occurring again. Barra believed “the best time to solve a problem is the minute you know about it” putting emphasis on correcting the problems and informing customers as quickly as possible of the issues, to prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths. As an effective leader and manager Barra took to task, she was open and honest about the mistake GM made and vowed to correct them. Even with the widespread recall GM managed a record year for sales, therefore Barra’s leadership has obviously had a positive impact on the company’s financial positions and staff morale given the changes made to corporate culture.
Mary T. Barra was promoted to CEO of GM in 2014, following numerous roles she held at different levels throughout the organization, she started her career with GM at 18 years old. Barra is the first woman to reach the position of CEO in GM and CEO of a large multinational auto manufacturer.
Barra can be seen as a visionary, transformational leader for GM she has taken the leadership approach to empower her subordinates. This has been done in a variety of ways. Firstly, she has delegated major decision-making authority to division managers and team leaders, giving them greater autonomy, when subordinates are given greater levels of autonomy, they feel more valued by the organization and will therefore have higher organizational commitment. This is will result in higher levels of job satisfaction and the employee accepting the higher degree of accountability that comes along with being given more autonomy.
Barra also stresses the idea that management has to create the. Environment for employees to make the best products for GM to sell to customers, in the past this was not something that was being done leading to vehicles that were undesirable for customers.
Her vast experience has allowed her to understand how employees will react to change for example the change in dress code policy was trimmed down from a manual into two simple words “dress appropriately” as Barra trusted that employees would be able to come to work dressed appropriately for their role and associated tasks.
Furthermore, Barra has employed the idea of open and honest communication in both her role as CEO and prior roles within GM for example she made the statement “no more crappy cars,” perhaps this is the reason GM has turned itself around, by being open and honest about the issues facing the company informs staff of what the problems are it also allows visionary leaders such as Barra to enlighten staff about the direction she wanted to see the company move towards.
Leaders are pushed to their limits in situations of crisis, in tumultuous times both internal and external stakeholders see who the best leaders are. For Barra quickly after taking on the role of CEO she was confronted with a massive safety issue due to faulty ignition switches in millions of GM’s vehicles, she acted quickly by issuing recalls and investigating the root cause of the issue, upon completion of the investigation it was found that GM’s corporate culture had a major role in the scandal as employees did not feel comfortable airing their concerns, and when they did they were simply ignored. Barra implemented measures, such as the “Speak Up For Safety” hotline, to reduce the chances of another safety issue like this one from occurring again. Barra believed “the best time to solve a problem is the minute you know about it” putting emphasis on correcting the problems and informing customers as quickly as possible of the issues, to prevent accidents, injuries, and deaths. As an effective leader and manager Barra took to task, she was open and honest about the mistake GM made and vowed to correct them. Even with the widespread recall GM managed a record year for sales, therefore Barra’s leadership has obviously had a positive impact on the company’s financial positions and staff morale given the changes made to corporate culture.
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