????芭拉在阿克森努力重構(gòu)通用汽車的企業(yè)文化的過程中已經(jīng)成了他的左膀右臂。作為負(fù)責(zé)全球產(chǎn)品研發(fā)的高級(jí)副總裁，芭拉手握通用在五個(gè)大洲、29,000名員工、150億美元的預(yù)算，由她負(fù)責(zé)研發(fā)出的車型，將被賣往全球130個(gè)國(guó)家。芭拉已經(jīng)開始著手重組通用過時(shí)、低效的汽車生產(chǎn)流程，加快開發(fā)全球平臺(tái)，同時(shí)在拯救歐寶的努力中扮演了主要角色。最近，她廢除了由三個(gè)高管各負(fù)責(zé)一款產(chǎn)品研發(fā)的舊模式，改為讓一名高管負(fù)總責(zé)，此舉導(dǎo)致通用公司裁撤了20個(gè)高級(jí)職位。據(jù)說過不了多久，通用還將進(jìn)行一次重組，弱化地區(qū)分公司的權(quán)力，把更多權(quán)利集中在芭拉等全球領(lǐng)導(dǎo)手里。更重要的是，芭拉還加強(qiáng)了她與阿克森的關(guān)系，阿克森向《財(cái)富》表揚(yáng)她是“一位強(qiáng)有力的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者和變革推動(dòng)者，從工廠、設(shè)計(jì)室到董事會(huì)，里里外外的業(yè)務(wù)她都懂。”阿克森已經(jīng)把芭拉列入CEO繼承人的候選名單里。

????未來12個(gè)月里，芭拉還面臨著兩次至關(guān)重要的測(cè)試。首先，她要確保新款全尺寸皮卡和SUV的成功發(fā)布，因?yàn)檫@兩個(gè)車型占了通用汽車總利潤(rùn)的大頭。其次，她還要推出以新科魯茲為首的新一代小型車。據(jù)路透社（Reuters）報(bào)道，到2014年秋天，以新科魯茲為標(biāo)志的通用全球平臺(tái)將正式建成，屆時(shí)它將年產(chǎn)250萬輛轎車和跨界車，包括雪佛蘭的沃藍(lán)蘭、艾諾斯和歐寶阿斯特拉等車型。現(xiàn)在通用有70%的銷量來自美國(guó)以外的地區(qū)，因此全球平臺(tái)能否成功對(duì)通用的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力至關(guān)重要——而且也決定了芭拉能否有機(jī)會(huì)在職場(chǎng)上更上一層樓。

????芭拉已經(jīng)在通用汽車工作了32年，可以說把一生都奉獻(xiàn)給了這家公司。芭拉不是一個(gè)行事拖泥帶水的人，她表面上給人的印象是略顯急躁，而不是雄心勃勃。她開會(huì)是典型的效率優(yōu)先：她會(huì)把相關(guān)方召集起來，確定問題所在，請(qǐng)大家討論，做出決策，然后就去解決下一件事。芭拉不喜歡通用汽車傳統(tǒng)的等級(jí)制度，她對(duì)下屬們說：“我的規(guī)則就是你們的規(guī)則”，而且她堅(jiān)持通過說服教育進(jìn)行管理，而不是通過規(guī)定。芭拉對(duì)筆者說：“如果有一天他們說：‘我之所以這樣做，是因?yàn)楝旣愖屛疫@樣做的，’那就是我失敗的一天。’她快刀斬亂麻的作風(fēng)令人印象深刻。在擔(dān)任人力資源主管時(shí)，她把公司關(guān)于工作期間著裝的各種規(guī)定縮短成一句話：“穿著得體”。芭拉自己穿著一套公司發(fā)的褲裝，涂著黑色指甲油，戴一付彩虹框的眼鏡，穿著4寸高的高根鞋。她有著斯堪的納維亞人的好面孔（她的父母都是芬蘭人），眼神天真無害，性格異常直率，這樣的秉性在過去的通用汽車可能很難混得下去。有人在一次員工會(huì)議上問她怎樣看待獲得了大肆宣傳的2013凱迪拉克ATS轎車，她委婉地壓低了人們的預(yù)期，答道：“老實(shí)說：對(duì)于那些想買寶馬的人來說，凱迪拉克可能不會(huì)排在他們候選名單的第一位。”

????As Akerson continues his efforts to remake?GM's dysfunctional culture, Barra has become one of his principal agents. The senior vice president for global product development, she oversees a budget of $15 billion for 29,000 employees on five continents responsible for designing and developing vehicles that are sold in 130 countries. She has begun rebuilding GM's outmoded and inefficient vehicle engineering process, accelerated efforts to develop global platforms, and taken a leading role in?the struggle to save Opel. In a recent move, she scrapped a system that made three different executives responsible for each model's development and devised a more streamlined structure that puts a single chief executive in charge -- a move that resulted in the elimination of 20 senior positions. Still to come: a rumored reorganization that loosens the power of GM's long-standing regional fiefdoms and puts more power in the hands of global leaders like Barra. Most important, she has strengthened her ties to Akerson, who praises Barra to?Fortuneas "a strong leader and change agent who knows the business inside and out -- from the plant floor and the design studio to the boardroom." He has put her on his shortlist of internal candidates to succeed him as CEO.

????Barra faces a pair of crucial tests in the next 12 months. First, she is overseeing the launch of new versions of the full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles that produce the vast bulk of GM's profits. Then she is leading the introduction of a new generation of small cars headed by the Chevrolet Cruze. Due in the fall of 2014, the compact Cruze will mark the debut of a global platform that will underpin 2.5 million sedans and crossovers annually, according to Reuters, including?Chevrolet's Volt?and Equinox and the Opel Astra. Now that 70% of GM's sales come from outside the U.S., its success is critical to GM's ability to remain competitive -- and to Barra's chances at another promotion.

????After 32 years at the automaker, Barra has the resume of a GM lifer -- but absent the usual baggage. Impatience, not ambition, is her dominant trait. Her meetings are models of efficiency: She gathers the relevant parties, identifies issues, invites discussion, makes a decision, and moves on. Uncomfortable in GM's traditional hierarchy, she tells subordinates "My rules are your rules," and insists on managing by persuasion rather than fiat. "The day they say 'I'm doing it because Mary told me to do it,' is the day I lose," she told me. Her ability to cut through GM's organizational fog is memorable. As head of HR, she reduced company rules for on-the-job apparel to two words: "Dress appropriately." Barra dresses up her own corporate-issue pantsuits with black nail polish, rainbow-framed reading glasses, and four-inch heels. With Scandinavian good looks (both her parents are Finnish) and disarmingly doe-eyed, she is subject to fits of candor that would have derailed her career at the old GM. Asked at an employee meeting about prospects for the much-ballyhooed?2013 Cadillac ATS, she deftly dampened expectations when she replied, "Let's be honest: Cadillac may not be at the top of the shopping list of someone wanting to buy a BMW."