{"id":3904,"date":"2026-09-05T04:46:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T04:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=3904"},"modified":"2026-09-05T04:46:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T04:46:01","slug":"mary-barra-responds-to-each-handwritten-letter-she-gets-what-happened-when-a-stranger-wrote-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=3904","title":{"rendered":"Mary Barra responds to each handwritten letter she gets\u2014what happened when a stranger wrote in"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/FWD.1123.Mary-Barra-GM-2022.jpg?w=2048\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Sometimes, access to the top starts with something as simple as a stamp. General Motors CEO Mary Barra said she responds to \u201cevery single letter\u201d she receives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite leading the over $65 billion automaker\u2014and the fact AI has turned once-tedious tasks such as drafting emails into seconds-long chores\u2014Barra still writes back the old-fashioned way: with pen and paper.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The notes she receives range widely, from loyal Chevrolet drivers sharing their car\u2019s nickname to schoolchildren worried about their family\u2019s future after the closure of a General Motors plant. But positive or negative, the letters still get a response.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI get [letters] from customers \u2026 when their odometer turns over to 200, 300, 400,\u201d Barra said at the 2025 <em>New York Times<\/em> DealBook Summit. \u201cI also get letters from consumers who are unhappy about something, and I respond to every single letter I receive. To me, this is such a special business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even as one of the busiest executives in the auto industry\u2014repeatedly topping <em>Fortune<\/em>\u2019s list of the Most Powerful Women in Business\u2014Barra has consistently treated intentional communication as part of the job. It\u2019s a habit she\u2019s carried throughout her rise at GM, from the assembly line to the C-suite. \u201cYou won\u2019t always be right, but no one\u2019s right all the time,\u201d she said in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And for workers, customers, or even complete strangers, that openness can make the corner office feel more reachable than it seems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Personalized responses can lead to lasting respect and brand loyalty<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carolyn Rodz, founder of a virtual startup accelerator for women, once wrote to Barra as a complete stranger. What she received in return surprised her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat really made me respect this woman, who I am a complete stranger to, was the personalization of her response. She not only acknowledged my request and respectfully declined, but she took the time to encourage my pursuit and commended me on my efforts,\u201d Rodz wrote in 2015.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rodz added that the note did more than close a loop\u2014it built loyalty and lasting respect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe validated my vision and affirmed my commitment,\u201d Rodz said. \u201cTruth be told, she built such loyalty in just a couple of paragraphs that I\u2019m considering buying a GM car next time I\u2019m in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an era when executives can seem buffered by layers of corporate hierarchy and public relations teams, Barra\u2019s practice stands out. It\u2019s a small gesture with an outsize message: In a business world racing toward automation, the human touch still carries weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s people like Mary Barra, however, who remind me that our words have significant value and an opportunity to impact others in ways we may never know,\u201d Rodz said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Other CEOs are keeping handwritten notes alive, too<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Writing letters by hand isn\u2019t just a Barra hallmark. For First Watch CEO Chris Tomasso, old-fashioned notes of appreciation are a leadership ritual.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The head of the $1-billion-a year-in-revenue breakfast and lunch chain sets aside time each month to handwrite congratulatory notes to cooks and dishwashers celebrating major milestones\u201410, 20, even 30 years with the company. At a business with more than 15,000 employees, Tomasso has penned more than 500 notes and believes the small gesture can have a dramatic impact: acknowledging to workers\u2019 that loyalty isn\u2019t taken for granted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur job is to create an environment where our employees are happy and feel appreciated, and they take care of the rest,\u201d Tomasso said on LinkedIn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Geoffroy van Raemdonck, now the CEO of Saks, is another executive who leans on personalized outreach. Before the pandemic, he sent three to five handwritten thank-you notes every day. As work shifted to remote and hybrid models, he supplemented them with texts, emails, and quick phone calls\u2014but the intent stayed the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was taught by great mentors of the power of sending a thank-you note,\u201d van Raemdonck told <em>Fortune<\/em> in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for me\u2014the moment of \u2018thank you\u2019\u2014because I know what it is to receive a thank-you, to be acknowledged.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many leaders aren\u2019t just writing handwritten notes, they read them, too\u2014and it could even be the key to a job offer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Joey Gonzalez, executive chairman of the upscale boutique fitness brand Barry\u2019s, cold outreach is how he found the person who would one day be his CEO. He previously told <em>Fortune<\/em> people should be willing to take risks and express their passion; you never know what doors it could open later on.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you\u2019re going to cold email someone, and you can\u2019t be passionate about the service or the product or whatever it might be, it\u2019s not going to be a compelling email,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut if you send someone an email that\u2019s like, \u2018Hey, I just want to let you know I\u2019ve been doing Barry\u2019s for a year, and it\u2019s changed my life. This is my r\u00e9sum\u00e9, and maybe one day you\u2019ll have something for me\u2019\u2014it just goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A version of this story originally published on\u00a0<\/em><em>Fortune.com<\/em><em>\u00a0on January 26, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More on leadership:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p>#Mary #Barra #responds #handwritten #letter #getswhat #happened #stranger #wrote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes, access to the top s&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3905,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6773,1575,1404,1405,1578,1406,6763,6776,6775,6777,1388,1160,6106,6772,6767,6774,6778,2063,6124],"class_list":["post-3904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-barra","tag-business-leadership","tag-career-advice","tag-chief-executive-officer-ceo","tag-corporate-leadership","tag-evergreen-refresh","tag-general-motors","tag-getswhat","tag-handwritten","tag-happened","tag-leadership","tag-letter","tag-letters","tag-mary","tag-mary-barra","tag-responds","tag-stranger","tag-view-from-the-c-suite","tag-wrote"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - 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