Glimpses of Mary Barra's career and the way to innovate

When Mary Barra started her first job on a General Motors assembly line in 1980, the 18-year-old engineering student was greeted with catcalls and wolf whistles each day from male autoworkers unused to seeing women in their workplace. In January 2014, Barra became the first woman to run GM.

In her new book, Bloomberg reporter Laura Colby explores how Mary Barra drove herself to the pinnacle of a company that steers the nation's wealth. Beginning as a rare female electrical engineer and daughter of a General Motors die maker, Barra spent more than thirty years building her career before becoming the first woman to ever lead a global automaker. With $155 billion in sales and 200,000 employees, GM is widely considered to be a proxy for the US economy; making Barra's position arguably the most important corporate role a woman has ever held. This book describes the personal character, choices, and leadership style that enabled her to break through the glass ceiling.

Barra is most certainly a pioneer for women in business, but she's also a living lesson as to how far the right outlook, skills, and drive can take you in your career. Road to Power explores the talent and the mindset that got her all the way to the top.