GM CEO Fritz Henderson Interview

Four days into his job as chief executive officer of the New General Motors, Fritz Henderson went for a short drive near Ann Arbor, Michigan, in a 2010 Buick LaCrosse. Motor Trend Detroit Editor Todd Lassa rode shotgun and wielded his voice recorder. Scott Burgess, of the Detroit News also was along for the interview/ride. Henderson was amiable and easygoing, and in the new Buick, at least, was a smooth and conservative driver. Here's what he had to say:

TL: Were you surprised at how quick your bankruptcy completed?

FH: Most important, obviously, we had the financing from the U.S. treasury, and without that...you didn't have exit financing...you had to have that. We had a very good team, very well organized. Second, we had the benefit of learning from Chrysler, third, we didn't have the secure debt issues Chrysler had. It sounds like it was without theater. No. There was a lot of work. But we were ready. The judge's decision, I thought it might come Monday. It came Sunday night. And then, obviously we had discussions through the week, leading up to Thursday with the stay being left in. When the stay was lifted on Thursday, we closed Friday. So it was a little faster than we thought, but as I said, we had a good chance of closing July 31, instead we closed July 10.

SB: How will you make the cultural shifts you've talked of?

FH: Culture is part of the change we needed to go through. Obviously, how we manage the business, the decision-making forms that we use, the speed with which we make decisions is linked to how you make decisions. So the people changes we talked about, moving away from the regional structure to an executive committee structure, all those are intended to drive faster decision-making. My view is that my job as head of the corporation is inseparable from running the business here in the U.S. This is something that prior CEOs at GM have seen, too. But the decision to recognize that and integrating that, is all about being faster and being connected to the customer, and more connected to the business.

The culture changes are about behavior changes, whether it's importance of speed, accountability, taking risks, and true product and customer focus...I say it's virally spread, but it's not something you can send a memo out, it's not something you formally cascade, it's about how you behave and where you spend your time. And I am one of those people who believe that the GM organization actually adapts pretty quickly when they understand what's expected of them. People do understand culture change, and they look at what I do, they look at everybody does in the organization. And if they see that behavior, they emulate it quickly.