Matt Lauer interview with GM CEO Mary Barra

Puppycow

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I'm a bit surprised to see such blatant sexism on TV in 2014.

https://hollywoodlife.com/2014/06/27/matt-lauer-mary-barra-interview-general-motors-ceo/

Matt Lauer, 56, sat down for an intense one-on-one with General Motors’ CEO Mary Barra on June 26. However, the interview took a turn for the worse when Matt crossed a line and took it upon himself to insinuate that Mary was not capable of running a major corporation while also being a mother of two.
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First, Matt told Mary that he was “treading lightly” while asking her whether or not she got her job solely because she was a woman and a mother. Matt suggested that GM put her in the position to help “soften” their business troubles in 2014.

Then he asked her if it was even possible for her to be the CEO of a major corporation and a mother at the same time.

“You’re a mom, I mentioned. Two kids. You said in an interview not long ago that your kids said they’re going to hold you accountable for one job — and that is being a mom. Given the pressures of this job at General Motors, can you do both well?”
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No one would ask a male CEO if he's spending enough time with his children. Besides, what business is it of yours anyway? We are concerned with her role as the CEO of a major company, not her family life. Good grief.
 
Barra should have scrapped Lauer off the bottom of her shoe and walked out of the interview. Or maybe her rejoinder should have been to ask if Lauer be a talk show host and a father and do both well.
 
SezMe said:
Barra should have scrapped Lauer off the bottom of her shoe and walked out of the interview. Or maybe her rejoinder should have been to ask if Lauer be a talk show host and a father and do both well.
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Emotionally I understand, but I think her response was more effective. Now the story is about Lauer being a sexist, not her reaction to Lauer being a sexist.
 
First of all, I understand that some people are made uneasy by any women-specific questions directed at a woman who is a top executive. But Lauer has said, the context is that American society has been having a major conversation about women being able to balance a career and a family. Further, Mary Barra had put the topic in play herself by stating her kids have said they’re going to hold her accountable for one job and that is being a mom. And she said she thought she could be a good mom.

Puppycow said:
...No one would ask a male CEO if he's spending enough time with his children...
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He actually didn't ask her, "Was she spending enough time with her kids?" He asked her if she could do both jobs -- Mom and GM CEO -- and do both jobs well. As for saying, Lauer would never ask a male CEO that question, Lauer says he would:

Saying Barra had discussed the challenges of finding work-life balance in a recent Forbes article. “If a man had publicly said something similar after accepting a high-level job, I would have asked him exactly the same thing.” Link
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Anyway, compared to the recall of some 37 million GM cars worldwide for faulty ignition switches which could -- and have -- prevented air bags from deploying in crashes (and causing fatalities), compared to the huge financial hit the corporation is taking, the fact there is a federal probe on aimed at establishing whether GM covered up the problem -- that could mean criminal charges -- Matt Lauer asking an insensitive question is pretty small potatoes for Mary Barra.
 
newyorkguy said:
First of all, I understand that some people are made uneasy by any women-specific questions directed at a woman who is a top executive. But Lauer has said, the context is that American society has been having a major conversation about women being able to balance a career and a family. Further, Mary Barra had put the topic in play herself by stating her kids have said they’re going to hold her accountable for one job and that is being a mom. And she said she thought she could be a good mom.



He actually didn't ask her, "Was she spending enough time with her kids?" He asked her if she could do both jobs -- Mom and GM CEO -- and do both jobs well. As for saying, Lauer would never ask a male CEO that question, Lauer says he would:



Anyway, compared to the recall of some 37 million GM cars worldwide for faulty ignition switches which could -- and have -- prevented air bags from deploying in crashes (and causing fatalities), compared to the huge financial hit the corporation is taking, the fact there is a federal probe on aimed at establishing whether GM covered up the problem -- that could mean criminal charges -- Matt Lauer asking an insensitive question is pretty small potatoes for Mary Barra.
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None of that gets Lauer off the hook I'm afraid.

ETA: Here, I don't have time right now for a whole essay on this, but I basically subscribe to Tom Walsh's take on it:
Tom Walsh: Matt Lauer takes dopey route with mom questions to Barra

Here's another Op-Ed on it:
http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/06/27/matt-lauer-good-mom-question-mary-barry-gm-ceo-sexist/

Tl, dr version:
1) It's irrelevant. We want to know about the recalls and what she's doing to fix the problem.
2) It's none of your damn business, thanks.
3) Nobody would ask such an impertinent question to a male CEO.
 
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Puppycow said:
None of that gets Lauer off the hook I'm afraid.

ETA: Here, I don't have time right now for a whole essay on this, but I basically subscribe to Tom Walsh's take on it:
Tom Walsh: Matt Lauer takes dopey route with mom questions to Barra

Here's another Op-Ed on it:
[
Tl, dr version:
1) It's irrelevant. We want to know about the recalls and what she's doing to fix the problem.
2) It's none of your damn business, thanks.
3) Nobody would ask such an impertinent question to a male CEO.
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I really don't think it's true that nobody would ask a male CEO this question, if the male CEO had said his children were holding him accountable for the job of being a father. She's the one who made it an issue, and his question naturally followed from her statement in Forbes magazine. i don't see any sexism here. That being said, it was a lame interview and I'm not impressed with Lauer.
 
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"No one would ask this of a male CEO."

Well, duh. She's not a male CEO. As long as God keeps makin' 'em XX and XY, there will always be questions differentiated by gender. If she'd been a midget instead, people would want to know about being able to reach the top drawers in the filing cabinet and stuff.

We do interviews to find out unique and interesting things about someone - not to find out how they are the same as everyone else.
 
Doghouse Reilly said:
I really don't think it's true that nobody would ask a male CEO this question, if the male CEO had said his children were holding him accountable for the job of being a father. She's the one who made it an issue, and his question naturally followed from her statement in Forbes magazine. i don't see any sexism here. That being said, it was a lame interview and I'm not impressed with Lauer.
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I don't see where "she's the one who made it an issue". Did she bring it up with Forbes or did Forbes ask her about it? In any case, she didn't bring it up in this interview.

marplots said:
"No one would ask this of a male CEO."

Well, duh. She's not a male CEO. As long as God keeps makin' 'em XX and XY, there will always be questions differentiated by gender. If she'd been a midget instead, people would want to know about being able to reach the top drawers in the filing cabinet and stuff.

We do interviews to find out unique and interesting things about someone - not to find out how they are the same as everyone else.
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Yeah, that would be a totally appropriate thing to ask a small person. :rolleyes:
 
Puppycow said:
I'm a bit surprised to see such blatant sexism on TV in 2014.

https://hollywoodlife.com/2014/06/27/matt-lauer-mary-barra-interview-general-motors-ceo/




No one would ask a male CEO if he's spending enough time with his children. Besides, what business is it of yours anyway? We are concerned with her role as the CEO of a major company, not her family life. Good grief.
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There is "anti sexism" absolutism and there is real life. In anti sexism absolutism people want to have no difference whatsoever and assume both male and female do raise kids in equal fashion. In real life although it tends toward slowly being erased with a tad bit more father tending to the kids, when the kids are sick , guess who far more often go to tend them ? The female side. I lost count on how many time my female colleagues were working at home or fully absent because their kids had this or that. The reality is while not politically correct, depending on the kids age, it is a very pertinent question to ask, as a share holder that is.

That said I expect somebody at that position and earning that much will most probably have house personal and nanny. But still the question is not irrelevant.
 
Aepervius said:
There is "anti sexism" absolutism and there is real life. In anti sexism absolutism people want to have no difference whatsoever and assume both male and female do raise kids in equal fashion. In real life although it tends toward slowly being erased with a tad bit more father tending to the kids, when the kids are sick , guess who far more often go to tend them ? The female side. I lost count on how many time my female colleagues were working at home or fully absent because their kids had this or that. The reality is while not politically correct, depending on the kids age, it is a very pertinent question to ask, as a share holder that is.

That said I expect somebody at that position and earning that much will most probably have house personal and nanny. But still the question is not irrelevant.
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Agreed, it's absolutely ridiculous to pretend that mothers in the human species are not far more responsible in caring for their offspring than fathers are. This is blatantly obvious in any primate species, and just because we have things called "CEOs" in our society doesn't negate the fact that a human mother CEO is generally going to be far more involved in the care of her children than a human father CEO.
It's not sexist to acknowledge that. In fact, I'd say it's more sexist to pretend otherwise, and to act like mothers don't play that very special role, even if they are CEOs.
And it's pointless to point out any exceptions to this. We all know that exceptions exist, and that some dads act like moms and some moms act like dads, and some children are raised by two dads or two moms, etc etc. That doesn't erase the reality that biologically, human mothers bear the primary responsibility for the physical upbringing of their children.

The OP talks about "blatant sexism on TV in 2014" as though the fact that it's 2014 changes biology. It's not stupid to be interested in whether or not a CEO who is a mother, and who has professed to be very concerned with her role as a mother, feels that it will be difficult to balance her roles, both of which involve a tremendous amount of responsibility.
 
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newyorkguy said:
As for saying, Lauer would never ask a male CEO that question, Lauer says he would:
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Somebody with access to Lexis-Nexis should check that claim.

Doghouse Reilly said:
Agreed, it's absolutely ridiculous to pretend that mothers in the human species are not far more responsible in caring for their offspring than fathers are. This is blatantly obvious in any primate species, and just because we have things called "CEOs" in our society doesn't negate the fact that a human mother CEO is generally going to be far more involved in the care of her children than a human father CEO.
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Can't argue but I would suggest the next obvious question is to ask if her husband has time/is inclined to do the parenting rather than assume the usual case since this is NOT the usual case.
 
To look at this another way, I'm skeptical of Mary Barra's claim she'll have time to be both a great Mom and a great CEO. With all the turmoil GM is currently enmeshed in, plus Barra's stated intention to "change our corporate culture," it would seem to me serving as top executive at General Motors will be an all-consuming and exhausting job. You would think just the travel requirements alone would mean many nights spent away from home. Plus many late nights when she's not on the road.

From what I have read about her though, she sounds like a great executive with real integrity and very smart. I wish her the best. (And I hope her husband knows how to prepare supper!)
 
newyorkguy said:
To look at this another way, I'm skeptical of Mary Barra's claim she'll have time to be both a great Mom and a great CEO. With all the turmoil GM is currently enmeshed in, plus Barra's stated intention to "change our corporate culture," it would seem to me serving as top executive at General Motors will be an all-consuming and exhausting job. You would think just the travel requirements alone would mean many nights spent away from home. Plus many late nights when she's not on the road.
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I don't know... bringing in a few million a year sounds like good mothering to me. I wish my mom had done a bit of that.
 
marplots said:
I don't know... bringing in a few million a year sounds like good mothering to me...
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Not even close! Her 2014 "compensation" will be $14.4 million. That's more than her predecessor made but less, I must admit, than I expected.

Barra’s 2014 compensation: $1.6 million in salary, $2.8 million in short-term stock incentives and $10 million in “long-term compensation,” likely in the form of stock tied to performance metrics. She won’t actually receive some of the long-term compensation until later. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations require companies to place a current value on deferred compensation. Link
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What I don't understand is how she can be held truly responsible for the defects. Don't we want CEOs to be "big picture" people rather than micro-managers? I sincerely hope that in her first few meetings she wasn't asking questions like "And the ignition switches on the 2013 Cruzes, how are they working?"

Anyway, sexism and Matt Lauer. Weren't they supposed to be airing today Matt's exclusive interview with Pippa Middleton, who is extraordinarily important because she wore a dress a few years ago that made her backside look really appealing? The entire premise for that interview is sexist.
 
I'm just surprised no-one is making more of a deal about her being the first genetically modified CEO.
 
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