Road to Power: How GMs Mary Barra Shattered the Glass Ceiling

Praise for Road to Power: How GM′s Mary Barra Shattered the Glass Ceiling

"With a journalist′s keen eye for fascinating details, Colby′s biography shows how Mary Barra found her fascination with cars, developed her leadership style, and maneuvered through the corporate obstacle course to the very top of a challenging, changing industry. Barra′s compelling story is sure to help women everywhere gain the confidence to reach higher."
Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School professor and best–selling author of Confidence

"Mary Barra may have been under the radar nationally, but she for many years was excelling in every position to which she was assigned at GM. As Laura Colby so well documents, Ms. Barra is well prepared for every challenge and may well emerge as one of the most effective leaders in this storied company′s history."
Mary Sue Coleman, President Emerita, University of Michigan

The story of how one of the most powerful women in business made her way to the top

All eyes are on Mary Barra, the first female CEO of a global automaker. Will she be able to revitalize a troubled business and pave the way for women to follow in her remarkable footsteps? Road to Power contemplates these questions through an exclusive look at Barra′s life and her ascent to one of the most influential roles in the nation.

General Motors, which has been called a proxy for the United States economy, has also created over its 100–year history a model for American corporate culture. In Road to Power, journalist Laura Colby uncovers how that culture made GM a leader in supporting women in the traditionally male–dominated auto industry. Mary Barra has done everything from working on the factory floor to running human resources to using her electrical engineering expertise to lead new product development. Road to Power highlights the qualities and experiences that have helped Barra climb to the top and will educate and inspire women in business for years to come.

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction. Dodge s La Femme: Women andCars

Chapter 1. The Firebird: A Childhood Dream

Chapter 2. The Red Chevette: Driving Lessons

Chapter 3. The Fiero:  Trial by Fire

Chapter 4. Chevy Blazer: Groundbreaking Laws

Chapter 5. Chevy Malibu: Expanding Vistas

Chapter 6. Buick Skylark: a View from the Top

Chapter 7. Oldsmobile Intrigue: Hearts and Minds

Chapter 8. Buick Le Sabre: Fixing Hamtramck

Chapter 9. Chevy Avalanche: the Road to Ruin

Chapter 10. The Volt: Shocked into Action

Chapter 11. Chevy Cruze: No More CrappyCars

Chapter 12. The Chevy Cobalt: End of the Honeymoon

Chapter 13. Cadillac Escalade: Climbing Back

Chapter 14. Buick Encore: Finding the Next Mary Barra

Afterword

Appendix

Bibliography

About the Author

Index

LAURA COLBY is a reporter at large for Bloomberg News in New York, covering women in the global economy and education. Prior to 2013, she was the managing editor of Bloomberg Markets, the monthly global finance magazine. Laura has also worked for The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and the International Herald Tribune.