Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors (GM), has overcome many challenges in her 10 years as the leader of a company that has spanned more than 100 years. When Mr. Barra took over as CEO, General Motors was still emerging from bankruptcy in 2009 and reeling from an ignition switch recall that killed more than 100 people. Barra was tasked with overhauling GM's siled culture, changing the way the public views the company's cars and restoring trust.
“A crisis is when you really demonstrate to your entire team that you're committed to your values,” Barra told Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi in a recent exclusive sit-down interview. At his GM technical campus in Michigan he designed the E-Ray Corvette. Barra spoke to Yahoo Finance about how he has guided GM through the crisis, just as he did when he took over, and how electric vehicles and self-driving continue to grow despite stiff competition from Tesla. (TLSA) and skepticism from shareholders.
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Editor's note: This article was written by Brian Vitagliano.
video transcript
Mary Barra: I believe that times of crisis are the time to demonstrate to the entire team that you are committed to your values. I'm going to do what I say. When everything is going well, it's easy to do the right thing and it's easy to live according to your values.
But in reality, we still intend to do the right thing by showing them in difficult times. We will continue to uphold our values. We will continue to focus on our customers, everything about them. I think that's what you have to prove. Then it becomes more ingrained and people say, “Okay, I understand.'' They are dedicated. And when you lead a team the size of General Motors, that's very important.
