By Kim Roth

The prefix “multi” pops up a lot when you talk about Mary Petrovich (BSE IOE ’85). Multi-talented. Multidimensional. Multitasker. How else could she juggle the demands of being the chief executive officer of an international corporation, a wife and mother, and a golfer who takes a six handicap to the links?

A multi-award winner, Petrovich earned recognition as the U-M Outstanding Female Scholar/Varsity Athlete of 1985 before leaving campus to earn a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard. Since then, she’s assumed a variety of functions and leadership roles at General Motors, Chrysler, AlliedSignal, Dura Automotive and, now, AxleTech International, where she serves as CEO. Throughout her experiences in a variety of positions – manufacturing engineer, financial analyst, plant manager, director of supply-base management, vice president of e-business, president of a division – a common thread has emerged: She’s been able to wield her laser-like focus on results to improve the performance of manufacturing businesses.

At AlliedSignal, Petrovich helped initiate the turnaround of Bendix by implementing Six Sigma cost-reduction projects at a dozen plants worldwide, saving more than $30 million annually. At Dura, she launched two growth initiatives worth a projected $250 million in incremental business over three years and developed a turnaround plan for a lagging business unit. More recently, as CEO of AxleTech – her “proudest accomplishment to date” – Petrovich oversaw the acquisition of the original Rockwell off-highway axle business (“terrific industry brand recognition and an experienced, knowledgeable executive team,” she said) from Arvin Meritor, a leading auto industry supplier. When the ink dried on the deal in December 2002, Petrovich was already launching an aftermarket business, establishing a new leadership team and renegotiating an uncompetitive UAW contract.

What’s her strategy for tackling a complex, multi-faceted venture such as transforming a global company? Petrovich said the first thing you have to do is “get out from behind the desk, get out in the field, and listen – to customers and to employees and peers who work with the organization, inside and out. What are the issues driving performance? It’s easy to look at financial statements and see that you’re in the red, but it’s hard to diagnose the top three to five things to do, in what order and how to get at them. You need to do qualitative research to understand the game plan.” From there, Petrovich drills down through the numbers and, often enough, her analyses show that managers might not have the relevant, seemingly fundamental, data. “You have to figure out what it is you don’t know. Once you have it, you can move forward.”

Her next step is motivating others to accept change. She frequently recalls what Larry Bossidy – the former CEO and chairman of AlliedSignal and Honeywell, and her mentor – would say: You can’t motivate people to change unless they have a burning platform, a reason to jump into the new. “So I have to create the burning platform for people – I have to convey a sense of urgency and be credible. Not threatening, credible. Change is painful, and it’s human nature to buck it.” 

Petrovich, on the other hand, finds the process exhilarating. “The difference between working a staff or even a line job in a big company where you might move the needle a little bit everyday versus being in the frying pan of a business that’s going to live or die based on your decisions is that you’ve got to make the play when it comes. No excuses. There’s no time to procrastinate or decide through multiple committee meetings – you analyze the facts, make the decision, use natural leadership skills, and you can see results almost immediately if you’re good at it.”

The rigors and intensity of the Michigan Engineering program honed her problem-solving skills and prepared her well for her work, as did competition on the softball field, where the former varsity captain developed many of her leadership qualities. An Evans Scholar for all four years, Petrovich found herself facing the task of keeping several balls in the air at one time. “I remember it as a really fun time, a really busy time….That’s another common thread in my life: a pretty high threshold for pain (she laughs), perseverance and a passion to win.” 

Petrovich also has a passion for balance: She’s structured her life so she can enjoy her family. That means keeping travel to 25 to 30 percent of her time and trying to make it home for dinner with her husband Scott and sons Kyle, 6, and Kevin, 4. In summer, the family heads for the water to do some boating, and in winter they hit the ski slopes. Kyle has started playing T-ball, and Petrovich is on-hand to help out at practices – one of the few moms who do. The boys seem to have picked up her love of golf, and it certainly won’t hurt their development to learn from Petrovich: In addition to sporting her six handicap, she’s won seven club championships – five in a row – and several local competitive tournaments. She said there’s no magic formula for making time for everything, but she’s “found it an advantage to be highly organized, a capable multitasker and blessed with a strong support network at work and at home.”

As for the future, Petrovich says she’s excited about the continuing challenge to transform the widely admired AxleTech business from “good” into something “great.” “I’ve reported to CEOs before,” she says. “It’s one thing to have that role. It’s another to be the person at the top of a company. Certainly you need a good team around you to win, and I feel I have that…but as CEO, you have ultimate responsibility, authority, accountability and must accept the risk. And I love it. You know the athlete that wants the ball at the end of the game to score? That’s me. That was me in high school; that was me in college; and now that’s me in business.”  

Kim Roth is a freelance writer who has contributed to the Chicago Tribune, the Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Washington Post.