“The best way to change it is to do it. Right? And then after a while you become it, and it's easy.” Ursula Burns.
Women`s success in the corporate sector has been increasing significantly in the past few years; more and more headlines and bulletin news are talking about successful women who are categorized as one of the most influential and powerful ones. One of those motivating examples is Ursula Burns. Multiple factors are the reason behind her success as we are going to see in details later on.
Background & Education.
This successful woman was raised by a struggling single mum in the public housing projects in Manhattan. Ursula`s parents were both Panamanian immigrants who moved to the US. She attended her high school in a girls-only Catholic one in New York. Later on, she obtained her bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from New York University (Polytechnic School of Engineering). Moreover, she obtained her master from Columbia University in 1981.
According to Ursula, all the odds were against her at the beginning of her life; she was both a poor and black girl (Lean In). Part of the success that Ursula has achieved is because of the harsh conditions that she was subjected to as a child. Yet, her mother`s support as well as the fine education that she received, were her thrust engines towards success.
Career Development.
Ursula`s start at Xerox was as a summer intern. She obtained her master later and was permanently hired. She started her career in the product development and planning, then she was promoted as an executive assistant in 1990. In 1991 she became an executive assistant to the chairman and was appointed later on as the Vice President for global manufacturing in 1999. Anna Mulcahy who was her predecessor in Xerox, stated that Ursula`s strong personality and professionalism made her visible on the radar of the seniors in the company since she was a junior (Mulcahy). Her remarkable skills made her visible on the recruiters` radar too. It was in 2000 when Ursula was about to leave Xerox during its crisis that was caused by Anna Mulcahy`s predecessor, but Anna managed to keep Ursula and delegated the outsourcing of manufacturing task to Ursula in order to get through the crisis. Urusla`s unique leadership and management style made her transition from success to another swiftly in a matter of few years.
Achievements
Ursula has been categorized as one of the most powerful women according to Forbes, she was listed the 29th. In addition, she was also the first Afro American woman to lead a 500 fortune categorized US company and it was the first woman to woman transition for CEO position. Not to mention her social activities and governmental duties that do illustrates her level of success. Ursula has took parts in several organizations such as the MIT Corporation, Exxon Mobil, American Express and the National Association of Manufacturers. In addition, she is a founding board director for Change the Equation which is responsible for the development of education in the US. Last but not least, she was appointed by President Obama as the Vice President of the president`s Export council in March 2010.
In conclusion, Usula` success from where I see it, is the result of a combination between hardships during her early years, receiving the proper education and striving for excellence and having an outstanding management and leadership skills during her last years. Her success story is a motivational one for empowering women all over the world.
Works Cited
Lean In. Web.3 April 2016.
Mulcahy, Anne.” How I did it: Xerox`s Former CEO on why Succession Shouldn`t Be a Horse Race”. Harvard Business Review.October 2010. Web. April 2016.
