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In this podcast, you’ll meet Carla Bailo, President and CEO of the Center for Automotive Research. Carla shares with us her love of cars and deep roots in the automotive industry. Her long career has been full of opportunities to start from a blank slate, she loves doing things no one has done before. She also enjoys breaking molds and challenging people to think differently.

02:27 – Carla’s deep roots in automotive

05:30 – GMC ride and handling performance on big rigs, driving cross-country

09:30 – Moving to Nissan’s newly opened R&D center, the “blank sheet of paper” job

11:36 – Joint venture with Ford, negotiating differences in culture and customer expectations

19:00 – Request from President to start three new departments for R&D

23:50 – Moving to Japan for 5 yrs to be program director for trucks and SUVs globally

27:37 – Moving back to be head of R&D for North and South America

28:00 – Retiring from Nissan, working for Ohio State to do mobility research

29:48 – Asked to go to the Center for Automotive Research

32:00 – Modernizing the CAR – MBS conference  

37:24 – Gen Z has a totally new way of thinking about things, employers have to change too

38:45 – What authentic leadership is to Carla

48:29 – The joys of getting back to in-person human interaction

54:20 – Carla’s definition of Gravitas

56:23 – Advice for her 25-year-old self

1:02:23 – Carla’s morning routine

Please share your thoughts on this episode, email me at Jan@gravitasdetroit.com,  I'd love to hear from you.

Check out Gravitas Detroit on our website, we believe in Transforming the work experience to break the mold of corporate leadership by providing workshops, keynotes,  blogs, podcast interviews, and the Accountability Lab