Stay Within and Reach Out for Leaders

Given a long decline in its North American market share and a major management shakeup, there is perhaps no company that needs savvy leadership more than General Motors Corporation. The company is addressing the issue with a blend of traditional approaches and new ideas. Committees of executives in each part of the company designate about 10 percent of their charges as “high-potentials.” These people receive individualized attention to test and develop their management and leadership skills.

One GM high-potential, Mark Hogan, is president of its Internet operation now. Previous assignments included running a divisional public-relations operation, serving as general manager of a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation in California, and acting as president of GM in Brazil.

Janet Weatherbe, executive director of global human resources for Detroit-based GM, says the company has had the program since the 1930s. “We’ve had a very strong promote-from-within process, and by the time someone got to the top of the company, they really understood it.”

She also is spearheading several new initiatives to improve GM’s development of leaders by reaching outside the company, and is paying more attention to mentoring and coaching on an informal basis. In addition, the company is overhauling the formal leadership-instruction program that it runs for senior executives with Harvard University.

Until recently, GM had a more generic approach, Weatherbe says, but found it wasn’t relevant enough to today’s global economy and the need to work effectively with people from different cultures.

Workforce, December 2001, p. 48 — Subscribe Now!