Rick Wagoner: Hanging Tough For GM
General Motors, which ranked 4th in the 2008 Fortune 500 list, is appealing to Congress for up to $10 billion in emergency loans. News and rumors have been circulating: whether Washington will require GM to focus on hybrid cars, or whether there will be major changes in the management team, and whether all of this would be enough to save the American auto maker. In the midst of all the turmoil, true leaders are made.
Rick Wagoner has been dealing with extensive criticism ever since he became GM’s CEO in 2000 and Chairman in 2003. The most recent below-the-belt attacks are the talks about making him the “sacrificial lamb” for the company to acquire the salvation loans.
Other weaker professionals would have buckled under the weight of the pressure and rumors. Rick Wagoner, however, is anything but weak. Undeterred, Wagoner has no plans of throwing in the towel just yet. Instead, he and his dedicated management team returned to Washington with drastic plans to cut costs.
GM’s vice president of Global Product Development Robert Lutz believes that Wagoner is the best CEO he has ever worked for because of the “enormous transformations” he has made at GM. Time and time again Wagoner has proven his worth as one of the most versatile and agile CEOs of our period. After all, when all the rest were immobilized, it was him and his team who came up with the “Keep America Rolling” campaign right after the 9/11 terrorist attack. Only men of such strong character go through fire and come out not charred, but polished and tempered.
George Richard Wagoner, Jr. graduated from Duke University and finished his Masters Degree at Harvard Business School. His entire career as part of General Motors spanned from making a name for himself from the Brazil subsidiary, to the North American division to finally becoming President and CEO. Under his leadership, several major improvements in the company’s operations were undertaken such as reducing structural costs by $9 billion dollars with another $5 billion to go.
Article Source: Freep.com.
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