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“Don’t attribute everything you encounter to the fact that you are a woman.”

Editor’s note: This article comes from “ future automotive Daily ” (micro-channel public number ID: auto-time), author: Jiaoman Ting.

Author | Jiao Manting

Edit | Cao Mohan

 

Editor’s note:

 

Today is International Women’s Day. Each year the United Nations celebrates this festival with a theme, this year is “I am the generation of equality: the realization of women’s rights”.
 

In the automotive world, “equality” still seems to be a distant word. The United States has already been called a developed country in the automotive industry, but statistics from the US Department of Labor in 2019 show that only 23.6% of jobs in the automotive and related equipment manufacturing industry are held by women. Among them, few can climb the tip of the pyramid and become senior managers and decision makers.
 

But Mary Bora did it. She became the CEO of GM in 2014 and was further elected chairman in 2016, making her the first person to break the ceiling of women in the automotive industry.
 

Bora uses her own experience to tell women, “You can be anyone, do anything.” Here is her story:

The global automotive industry exploded when Mary Bora was nominated as CEO of General Motors seven years ago. This is not only the first time that GM’s “hundred-year-old shop” has welcomed women heads, but also the first time in the automotive industry that women have stood in this position.

Before that, women’s roles in the automotive industry were mostly advertising girls, designers, and executives. It seems that a man like Bob Lutz, who is holding a cigar, is more in line with GM’s image. An industry consultant commented on Bola, “It doesn’t look like gasoline is flowing in the bones like other autobots.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GM CEO Bob Luz Source: autoblog

At the time, only 15 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were women. It’s even hard to find a women’s toilet in some of the largest private equity firm buildings in New York. Being the most powerful woman in an environment where a man has an overwhelming advantage, many people have a question mark in their hearts: Can Bora be OK?

Dan Exxon, former chairman and CEO of General Motors, undoubtedly recognizes her and affectionately calls her “skirt CEO.” From full eugenics to factory supervisor, from human resources supervisor to product development leader, Bora has more than 30 years of working experience at General Motors, stepping from the grassroots to the top, and Exxon laments “as if watching his daughter Graduated from college. ”

Exxon turned to Bola to open a new chapter for General Motors Source: autoblog

Are girls good at engineering? She is a top student in mathematical sciences

At the age of 11, a red convertible ignited Bora’s love for cars.

This is Pontiac Firebird from Cousin Bora. “The red body, the white top, fell in love with it for the first time,” Bola described. Since then, the excitement for the new model has occupied a large part of Bora’s growth.

Pontiac Firebirds Source: Wikipedia

Bora One Home At the same time, “Anytime a safety issue arises, a car must be recalled.” GM issued a recall notice almost daily throughout the spring and summer of 2014. By the end of 2014, GM had recalled a total of 32 million vehicles, breaking the recall record of a single automaker.

Cadillac CTS is one of GM’s recalled models in 2014 Source: Cadillac

“ What I learned from bankruptcy is that when you find a problem, it’s best to fix it, because if you don’t, it will become more difficult after six months “Bora said,” After two or three years, this problem may disappear-because then you can no longer be in this position. “

Conclusion:

Bora has repeatedly denied that her career has been hindered by her status as a woman. A word she often says to girls is: “Do n’t attribute everything you encounter To the fact that you are a woman. “

In her opinion, no matter where you are, there can be no perfect thing, and life is not absolutely fair. “Don’t worry about things that are out of your control; grasp those things that you can control and invest your energy.”

Source: chiefexecutive

It is gratifying that in the fields of technology, innovation, capital, etc., more and more women are beginning to emerge in the workplace. According to data published by Fortune Magazine in 2019,Among the top 500 companies, female CEOs lead 33 companies, which is a good growth compared to only 15 companies five years ago.

Companies’ decision makers have come to realize that hiring and promoting employees should no longer ignore women and minorities. Especially in the current United States, there are more women than men holding driver’s licenses, and the data shows that women’s opinions influence 80% of car purchase decisions. Therefore, Frost & Sullivan Consulting said that although the automotive industry is still one of the lowest female employees in the world, companies should take proactive actions, and the proportion of female customers should be to a certain extent. Reflected in the percentage of women employed by companies.

At the same time, gender bias still exists. UN Women said in 2019 that In the past 27 years, global gender inequality has decreased by only 2%. Women around the world are still not respected enough, are underpaid, lack choices, and continue to suffer multiple forms of violence.

But Bora’s story may point out that female identity should not be a stumbling block to your growth, nor should it be considered a “gender card” for success. Whether or not the gender ceiling can be broken ultimately depends on the ability of women themselves.

Reference:

1. “Growing Up: Biography of GM CEO Mary Bora”, by Raul Kobe, Translated by Chen Yi, China Publishing House, China Publishing Group;

2. My Years at General Motors, by Alfred Sloan Jr., translated by Liu Xin, Huaxia Publishing House;

3, “Skirt CEO”: “Her Times” of GM Empire, author Hong Hua, Automobile Commune.

“Man talk” is a weekly column of Future Car Daily, dedicated to capturing the stories and moments worth recording in the changes of human travel.