No, we haven’t gone disco on you with today’s post. In fact, Paul takes on an issue that you just can’t dance around. Women, the glass ceiling, and corporate America. Enjoy. – FJ
As you can imagine, the announcement that a woman has ascended to the top spot at General Motors is a huge breakthrough. We attend numerous automotive conventions, and unfortunately, we see too many people who look like us – white, male, boomers – in an industry that has been dominated by men since its inception. With Mary Barra becoming the first female CEO of a major automobile company, the glass ceiling in that industry has been pulverized. And the news media has been all over it.
But there is another part of this story that hasn’t received a whole lot of coverage. Barra has taken a different career path to the top. She started with General Motors as an intern working at one of GM’s factories when she was 20. She doesn’t come from finance and wasn’t a CFO. She was former CEO Jack Smith’s Executive Assistant, and ran HR for a while.
But most significantly, Barra comes out of the content side of the business, rising to lead global product development for the company, and in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, made this simple, declarative statement:
“The most important thing we have to drive into the business every day is that it all starts and ends with great product.”
Nothing about reducing efficiencies, reworking the flow charts, EBITDA, or re-orgs. It’s about content.
The phrase, “content is king,” has become so overused that it’s become a cliché. We keep hearing about its importance, whether at DASH, or at the recent Nielsen Client Conference/Jacobs Media Summit last week in Baltimore. But leaders like Vh1’s Tom Calderone, the four CEOs on our roundtable, Dateline NBC’s Josh Mankiewicz and other presenters kept coming back to this simple concept – we are an industry defined and driven by great product.
And it’s driven by smart, innovative, creative people. It’s not about sales forecasting, rebates, and gimmicks. In fact, that’s a big part of what got GM in trouble in the first place. Leaders who are thinking about their brands 24/7, always focused on what’s ahead, and not the way it’s always been done are what great brands need. And that’s what drove GM’s decision.
So, congratulations to Mary Barra for breaking that protective automotive glass ceiling. It’s an important symbol of progress for women in corporate America. But Barra will be judged by the great products that General Motors creates and whether they resonate with consumers.
Yes, women should feel good about Barra’s story. But so should program directors, content creators, and people who make stuff.
It’s a great day for you, too.
After a brief stint working for the William A. Robinson marketing services agency in Chicago, where he created campaigns for Philip Morris and Seagram's, Paul struck gold when he was hired as an Account Executive at WRIF-FM in Detroit. This experience launched his sales management career, and four years later, he became the General Sales Manager for KZEW-FM in Dallas, and ultimately, the General Manager for KHYI-FM, also in Dallas. He was lured home to run WDFX-FM in Detroit, before joining Jacobs Media as its General Manager in 1991.
Along with overseeing the day-to-day operations of Jacobs Media, Paul’s main contribution has been the addition of sales consulting services. As an expert in all Rock formats, Paul has made Jacobs Media clients’ untold amounts of money by aiding them in their understanding of how to sell, market, and position their formats via sales training seminars. He has conducted hundreds of client presentations on behalf of Jacobs Media clients, and has aided the Ford Motor Company and Procter & Gamble in improving their understanding of the youth market. Paul is a true "format champion" – someone who believes in the power of branding, and developing radio’s inherent assets.
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