????商界和汽車業界對即將上任的通用汽車（GM）新任首席執行官瑪麗?芭拉女性身份的熱議將很快降溫，隨之而來的，是對其她在重振通用汽車輝煌的道路上所需要展現的領導才能。

????成長于密歇根州東南部的瑪麗?芭拉是通用汽車公司一手培養起來的人才，資歷頗深，作為公司高管的她還展現出了出色的管理技能和履歷。這種經歷不但對她出任首席執行官來說至關重要，而且也成為了一種優勢。她清楚地知道，通用汽車公司過于墨守成規，不思進取地固守著過往成功經驗：至少到上世紀90年代，通用汽車公司還是全球最大也是最有影響力的公司。如若此，她或許也給通用汽車公司帶來必要的改革。

????瑪麗?芭拉入職通用汽車之初，這家公司幾乎沒有犯錯，但也因此過于盲目自信于以往的成功，結果直接導致后來陷入經營困頓，最終在2009年宣布破產?？梢宰糇C的一個例子是，上世紀80年代，通用汽車的高管們對一家名為豐田汽車（Toyota）的日本小公司不屑一顧，而當豐田宣布推出一款名為雷克薩斯的豪華品牌時，他們更是對此極盡嘲笑之能事。如今，丹??？松瓌t明智地要求公司管理層不可小視埃隆?穆斯克和他旗下的特斯拉汽車（Tesla）。

????另一個不思進取的例子是，通用汽車當年還會時不時地與全美汽車工人聯合會交惡，因此付出了經營業務受損的慘痛代價。

????瑪麗?芭拉絕對不能忽視勞工關系問題。的確，通用汽車在2008年的破產倒閉和美國政府的援助一度緩和了工會的要求并平息了罷工潮。但到2015年新一輪勞資談判開始之時，工會是否還會考慮通用汽車公司的長遠利益？瑪麗?芭拉必須想辦法解決通用汽車公司背負的高達700億美元的養老金成本，這個包袱比通用汽車的市值還要高出200億美元。

????歐洲市場將會成為通用汽車公司的利潤增長點，因此瑪麗?芭拉必須在歐洲實施新的策略。毫無疑問，芭拉已經意識到，任何閃失——比如過去15年累計虧損180億美元的失誤——都會給整個公司帶來致命的打擊。通用汽車是否應該像破產之后所盤算的那樣，賣掉歐寶品牌？是否應該找一個比標致汽車公司（Peugeot）更靠譜的合作伙伴？如今的標致汽車疲軟不振，極度需要現金。通用汽車曾在2006年拒絕了雷諾汽車（Renault）伸出的合作橄欖枝，或許應該算是明智之舉。芭拉也許應該在歐洲物色一個更為穩健出色的合作伙伴，幫助通用汽車在歐洲市場上站穩腳跟。

????出色的領導力可以力挽企業于狂瀾之中。艾倫?穆拉利執掌福特汽車（Ford）8年，成功地把這家公司帶出了危局，走上了正軌，如今已經被奉為經典案例。當時，穆拉利意識到福特公司高管之間出現內訌，他設法將之平息，還阻止了爭強好勝的福特高管們將公司旗下知名的品牌——福特金牛座束之高閣。自1999年起，卡洛斯?戈恩帶領日產汽車公司（Nissan）取得了令人矚目的復興，在公司中率先打破了被日本企業奉為金科玉律的“按資歷晉升”的傳統。在這兩個案例中，新的領導者都是通過新穎且大膽的方式解決了似乎無解的企業難題。

????毫無疑問，芭拉處處都能感知到通用汽車輝煌的傳統、歷史以及傳承。但如果她要為通用汽車腳踏實地地制定新的戰略、方案以及人才規劃，則需要將過去的一切輝煌都拋諸腦后。

????曾經有些人憂慮女性受到了不公平地對待、無法進入董事會?，旣?芭拉的女性身份對這些人來說意義重大。但涉及到能否在通用汽車公司首席執行官的新崗位上展現出出色的領導才能這個問題，性別就變得無關緊要了。（財富中文網）

????譯者：唐昕昕

????The business world and auto industry will soon get over their fascination with incoming GM CEO Mary Barra's gender and pay attention to the leadership she must impart on General Motors and its efforts at revitalization.

????The fact that Barra is a GM (GM) lifer who grew up in southeast Michigan, the product of a GM family, is a critically important part of her resume, along with her obvious skills and record as an executive. That aspect could be an advantage, provided she recognizes that GM has been a hidebound place, too reliant on the habits that made it, until the 1990s, the world's biggest and most impressive company. If so, she could deliver necessary change.

????The GM of her youth could do very little wrong and thus was blinded by its success, which led to an acceptance of the status quo and ultimately, in 2009, to its failure. An example: GM executives of the 1980s snickered at a little outfit from Japan named Toyota (TM). They were stricken with hilarity when Toyota announced it would sell luxury vehicles under the Lexus brand. Dan Akerson correctly showed his fellow executives that they better not take Elon Musk or Tesla (TSLA) lightly.

????Another example of status quo thinking: GM more or less has accepted occasional flare-ups with the United Auto Workers union as the price of doing business.

????Barra can't afford to ignore labor relations. True, the financial collapse of 2008 and the bailout by the U.S. served to moderate union demands and quieted calls for work stoppages. Will the union worry about GM's long-term health in the next labor negotiations in 2015? Specifically, Barra must find a way to resolve GM's current pension obligation to the UAW, which is about $70 billion, $20 billion more than GM's market capitalization.

????GM needs a new strategy in Europe, one that will turn a profit. No doubt, Barra realizes that another streak like the $18 billion in losses over the past 15 years could sink the company. Should GM consider selling Opel, as it had planned after the bankruptcy? Should it find a better partner than Peugeot, which is weak and starved of capital? GM turned down a chance in 2006 to join forces with Renault, probably for reasons of pride. Maybe Barra can find a brilliant partnership in Europe that will help GM gain a sustainable foothold there.

????Turnarounds can happen under brilliant leadership. Alan Mulally's stewardship of Ford (F) over nearly eight years has become a model for how to heal a troubled organization and get it back on track. He recognized that Ford executives were undermining one another and put a stop to it. He prevented overachieving Ford execs from shelving Taurus, one of the company's most recognized brands. And Carlos Ghosn led a spectacularly successful resurgence at Nissan, starting in 1999. Ghosn had to put an end to corporate practices such as promotion by seniority, which was sacrosanct in Japan. In both cases, the new leaders applied a fresh, bold perspective to address seemingly intractable business problems.

????No doubt, Barra is reminded at every turn of the wonderful traditions, history, and heritage of GM. She will have to try to put them out of her mind as she searches for strategies and solutions -- as well as talented individuals -- to put GM on a solid footing.

????Her gender will matter a great deal to those who worry about women being unfairly excluded from the corporate suite. Her gender will matter little as it relates to the leadership chops she displays in her new job.