General Motors CEO Mary Barra receives plenty of notes about her company from customers — and she responds “to every single letter that I get,” whether positive or negative, she said at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Dec. 3.
Barra’s habit can be seen as an example of direct and intentional communication, which some experts say is an effective way to build loyalty and trust. Handwritten cards can show other people that you put time and care into your interaction with them, and in face-to-face interactions, asking someone thoughtful, pointed questions can help you strengthen a relationship.
At DealBook, Barra recalled a letter she once received about “Tim the Tahoe,” a family’s Chevrolet SUV that she said carted the letter writer’s family everywhere, from her son’s lacrosse games to her cancer treatments. “They view [the car] as part of the family,” Barra said, adding: “This is not an easy industry, but it is a rewarding one.”
Barra has also personally responded to negative feedback — notably, for example, writing to schoolchildren in February 2019 following the announced closure of a General Motors manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio — and even letters that have little to do with her company. Back in 2015, Carolyn Rodz, CEO of AI-powered entrepreneurship platform Hello Alice, recalled an exchange she had with Barra in an Entrepreneur article.
Rodz wrote that she had once cold-emailed Barra about her previous company and Barra quickly responded with a polite and personal note. She recalled at the time: “She not only acknowledged my request and respectfully declined, but she took the time to encourage my pursuit and commended me on my efforts.”
The value of building human connections with the people around you can extend to your co-workers, too. Even short interactions focused on personal connection often make the people around you feel more like they matter, leadership and workplace researcher Zach Mercurio told CNBC Make It in May.
Building relationships and camaraderie can be particularly valuable for managers, who need to keep their staff engaged and productive at work, Mercurio said.
“We’ve studied people for five years in numerous occupations, and we’ve asked them this question: When you feel that you matter, what’s happening at work?” said Mercurio. “Nobody yet has said, ‘When I got a promotion, when I got a pay raise, when I got employee of the month’ … They’ve all talked about small interactions in which someone truly sees them, hears them, is there for them, and reminds them that they’re needed.”
Watch General Motors CEO Mary Barra on CNBC’s “Leaders Playbook″ on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. All new episodes Wednesdays.
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