Best Advice: Start With Your Passions,
Grow Through Hard Work
The
best advice I ever received came from my parents, who encouraged me to work
hard and pursue my early love of math. This was great advice for two reasons.
First,
it led me to do something I really loved. In my experience, in work and in
life, there are lots of smart, talented people out there. But talent alone is
never enough. One of the things that distinguishes those who truly make a
difference is passion and hard work. There is truth in the expression that hard
work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. And the passion that drives
hard work comes from doing something you really love.
The
second reason this was great advice is that it steered me toward a career in
engineering at a time when few women were pursuing work in science, technology,
engineering or math – fields that, collectively, we now call STEM.
Just
like they did when I was starting out, the STEM fields provide some of the most
rewarding careers in America today. As engineers, scientists, and inventors, we
get to imagine what’s next, and then make it happen.
In
the auto business, our challenge is to provide solutions for our customers in
an industry that changes daily. In fact, I believe we will see more change in
our industry in the next five to ten years than we have in the last 50. I’m
talking about huge improvements in vehicle electrification, connectivity,
propulsion, safety, and even cars that drive themselves. We are at the start of
a technological revolution that is going to change the way we drive and
interact with our cars, trucks, and crossovers even as we make them more
efficient, more relevant and more exciting than ever before.
Who
will drive these changes? Engineers, scientists, inventors and others with the
passion and talent to go into STEM.
Of
course, it’s not just the auto industry where STEM grads will make a
difference. In the next five years, more than three-quarters of the jobs
created in the U.S. are expected to be STEM-related. Unfortunately, though, the
number of U.S. students pursuing STEM careers has dropped off dramatically. By
2020, for example, it’s now estimated that the U.S. will face a shortage of
some half a million engineers.
So,
the opportunities for today’s STEM grads are tremendous. And for women,
Hispanics and African-Americans, they are even better. These groups will make
up a significant portion of the future American workforce, yet they are the
most underrepresented groups in many STEM fields today.
What
advice would I give to someone thinking about careers today? The same advice I
got: do what you love and work hard. And if you love math or science, get ready
to love what you do.
Mary Barra
CEO, General Motors Company
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/best-advice-start-your-passions-grow-through-hard-work-mary-barra?trk=eml-mktg-inf-m-bestadvice-0203-p2
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