Mary Barra Habits for Strategic Leadership and Operational Excellence

Begin the day with 15-20 minutes of meditation and mental clarity exercises to reduce stress and enhance focus. This creates a calm foundation before tackling professional responsibilities.

Engage in 60-minute mixed workouts combining yoga, cardio, and strength training before 6:30 AM. Enhances physical stamina and mental acuity for demanding executive responsibilities.

Dedicate morning time to family connection before work commitments. Strengthens personal relationships that support professional longevity.

Review emails, reports, and operational updates by 7:30 AM. Enables proactive rather than reactive leadership from day's start.

Hold morning meetings with R&D, engineering, and design teams to accelerate EV/AV development. Forces collaboration across organizational silos.

Conduct unscripted visits to production facilities to gather frontline insights. Builds trust while identifying operational improvements.

Convert midday meals into strategic discussions with suppliers, investors, and partners. Maximizes time while building alliance networks.

Personally audit environmental initiatives and CSR programs. Ensures accountability for public climate commitments.

Make strategic calls when 80% of data is available, adjusting as needed. Prevents analysis paralysis in fast-moving automotive markets.

Dedicate evening hours to developing emerging leaders through formal programs. Ensures leadership pipeline for 100+ country operations.

Replace complex guidelines with principle-based frameworks (e.g., 'Dress appropriately'). Empowers middle management discretion.

Ask 'Did you get what needed?' after key discussions. Identifies communication gaps in real-time.

Allocate evening hours to industry publications and technical journals. Maintains expertise in automotive software and battery chemistry.

Monitor progress on diversity initiatives and employee engagement scores. Links cultural goals to financial performance.

Personally evaluate critical vendor partnerships quarterly. Mitigates risks in $80B+ supply chain.

Conduct unannounced operational stress tests. Prepares organization for supply chain/PR emergencies.

Share critical information with directors 72 hours before meetings. Enables substantive governance discussions.

Physically inspect vehicle prototypes during development phases. Provides tactile quality assurance.

Review pending legislation impacting automotive weekly. Anticipates compliance needs for global operations.

Monitor software development sprints for vehicle platforms. Ensures Agile methodology adoption.