General Motors CEO Mary Barra started with the company when she was just 18-years-old.
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00:00I have been at General Motors my entire career. And as Vince said, when I was 18, I started as a
00:05co-op student, meaning I would work for three months and go to school three months. And I
00:09did that for five years. It paid for college. It's where I met my husband, Tony, of 36 years.
00:16My very first job at GM was being a quality inspector on the assembly line,
00:21inspecting the fenders and hood panels. And my only company-issued equipment was a clipboard
00:26and some safety glasses. And I learned working on an assembly line is hard work,
00:32and the people who do it are talented. Because I was a co-op student while going to school,
00:38I rotated through many areas, like the assembly line, and I met many people. To a person,
00:45they were generous with their time and taught me what I needed to know for my specific assignment.
00:50But I also got to see the company and the world from their perspective. Often they would share
00:57their dreams and their struggles. And I learned empathy, putting myself in their shoes. Empathy,
01:04it's the ability to share and understand the feelings of one another.
01:08And it's foundational to any form of leadership.