柔性铁娘子：通用汽车首位女掌门解密

    过去几个月来，通用汽车公司（General Motors）的总裁兼首席执行官丹•阿克森像个尽忠职守的大管家一样，一直在开展内部调整，为他今年1月突然宣布、但却并不让人意外的退休决定做准备。

    他重新调整了通用的国际业务，推选了一位新人掌管中国业务，同时下令十年磨一剑，要在欧洲把雪佛兰（Chevrolet）打造成廉价品牌的工作彻底停下来。同时，他今年8月大幅提升了玛丽•芭拉的职位，借此向所有人表示，她是最有可能接他班的人。笔者在新一期《财富》杂志（Fortune）中的一篇本来要刊印的预测里写道：“阿克森已经表态，他倾向于让内部人接自己的班，还说，通用汽车未来总有一天会由女性来掌舵。这番表态为高级副总裁玛丽•芭拉扫清了接班之路，她现在是通用汽车职位最高的女性。”本周二，通用汽车正式宣布了这个消息。这对芭拉来说是个大好消息，而她的擢升也让今后女性掌管财富500强公司的可能性大大增加了。不过，这也同时意味着我这篇稿子没机会面世了。唉，真可惜。

    四年前，阿克森接手通用汽车的时候还有些不情不愿，但如今的通用汽车已经今非昔比、大有改观，在很多方面都变得更强大了，但仍然存在很大问题。芭拉接任的消息是在财政部宣布撤出在通用汽车最后股份的第二天传出的，这个撤资举动也意味着美国2009年对汽车业的拯救行动已经正式告一段落。不过，就在通用汽车在中国和王者归来的大众汽车（Volkswagen）展开较量，竭力维持增长时，它在欧洲的亏损却仍在继续攀升（尽管可能幅度有所放缓）。与此同时，在砸下数十亿美元开发雪佛兰沃兰达（Volt）却宣告失败后，它还必须重新树立自己作为技术领跑者的形象。

    不过，就应付这些难题来说，芭拉是再合适不过的人选。她是通用汽车公司全球产品开发、采购和供应链的总管，深度参与了在欧洲的欧宝（Opel）分公司重组。她的工程学背景和动手实干的能力将会让她有效督阵通用汽车的产品组合重构工作。最近，这一组合已拿出了一系列拳头产品，比如全新的凯迪拉克CTS，雪佛兰因帕拉（Impala）和克尔维特（Corvette）。而她早年作为人力资源总监的任职经历更让她具备了难能可贵的洞察力，使她能深入了解通用汽车仍在不断演变的员工文化。

    对她的这个提拔将获得各界广泛赞誉。芝加哥一位咨询师格里高利•卡洛特说：“仅仅是提名一位女性，而且是一位聪明过人、技能高超、坚韧果断的杰出女性这一行为本身就传达了一个强烈的信号，说明通用汽车董事会到底重视什么。显然它更在乎的是能力，而不是做老好人。”

    除了善于在公司的晋升台阶上一路高升之外——她一开始是通用汽车的实习生，芭拉还是泰迪•罗斯福总统所谓的辞令婉转，但手段强硬这一警言的活脱脱化身。她的一双慧眼非常善于发现公司的昏招，之后她就会通过掩盖在柔和指令下的铁腕手段来纠正、逆转这类问题。她属于那种罕见的、面对复杂问题时从不忽略常识的高管。

    Like a conscientious housekeeper, General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) chairman and CEO Dan Akerson has been tidying up the automaker for the past several months in preparation for his sudden, though not surprising, decision to retire in January.

    He rearranged GM's international operations, put a new man in charge of China, and ordered a halt to the decade-long effort to establish Chevrolet as a budget brand in Europe. And he signaled to all that Mary Barra was his most likely successor in August by handing her a big promotion. In a prediction that would have been published in the upcoming issue of Fortune, I wrote, "Akerson has said he favors an internal candidate to succeed him and that it was 'inevitable' that a woman would run GM someday -- which clears the way for senior vice president Mary Barra. GM's highest ranking woman." On Tuesday, GM made it official. That's great news for Barra, whose promotion ups the ante for women in charge of Fortune 500 companies; but it does mean the spike for my article. Alas.

    The company Barra inherits is much changed from the one Akerson reluctantly took over four years ago, stronger in many ways but still with significant weaknesses. The news comes a day after the Treasury Department said it unloaded its final stake in GM, which closes the book on Uncle Sam's 2009 bailout of the auto industry. But losses in Europe continue to mount (though they may have leveled off), as GM fights to hold on to its gains in China against a resurgent Volkswagen. Meanwhile the company has to reestablish itself as a technology leader after lavishing more than a billion dollars on the failed Chevrolet Volt.

    But Barra is highly qualified to deal with these issues. As head of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain, she was deeply involved in the restructuring of Europe's Opel. Her engineering background and ability to put hands on will allow her to efficiently supervise the rebuilding of GM's product portfolio, which already includes such recent hits as the new Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Impala, and Corvette. And her earlier stint as head of human resources gives her rare and valuable insights into GM's still evolving employee culture.

    Her appointment will be widely praised. Said Chicago-based consultant Gregory Carrott: "Simply the act of naming a woman, and one with great smarts, skill, and toughness, sends a powerful message about what the GM board values. It values competence over making nice."

    Besides having a knack for climbing the corporate ladder -- she started at GM as a student intern -- Barra is the living embodiment of Teddy Roosevelt's admonition to speak softly but carry a big stick. With a keen eye for spotting incidents of corporate idiocy, she manages to correct or reverse them with a steely resolve delivered with a soft message. She is that rare executive who doesn't ignore common sense when faced with a complicated problem.