If someone wants to transmit a high-quality service with no interruptions and 'guaranteed this, guaranteed that,' they should be willing to pay for that.

I don't know anything about cars. A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I'm not that old, and I think the business principles are the same.

I started at GM knowing very little about that particular business. Not being an expert means you have to learn everything, starting from the basics.

If someone wants to transmit a high-quality service with no interruptions and 'guaranteed this, guaranteed that,' they should be willing to pay for that.

None of us has control over the economy, the job market, or anything else in the global sense. But we are 100% in charge of how we respond to challenges that come our way, be it the loss of a job, a career derailment, or some other disappointment.

Find your passion is in life, and do what you can to integrate that into your work life. That's not to say you won't have occasional frustrations in your job - that just goes with the territory - but at least you'll feel better inside, and that, over time, will mean more to you than you might think.

I was brought in by the White House as GM's chairman in 2009, around the time of the bankruptcy, and became CEO later that year. As a company, we were grateful for the government's support. But as GM's financial health began to improve, I could detect no real sense of urgency, or even interest, on the part of the government to relinquish control.