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Apr 3, 2024

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1 Contemporary Business Leaders Colangelo College of Business, Grand Canyon University MGT-420: Organizational Behavior and Management Lisa Duryee 23012022
Contemporary Business Leaders Ursula Burns PhD., CEO, and Chairman exemplifies in her action and through her leadership that personal development is the fundamental level at which to improve a team, and thus a business, while simultaneously improving the individual’s own life. This is summed up in her “where you are is not who you are” mantra that implies self-improvement is self-evident and quickly leads on into her style of business leadership which is [grow the individuals and the whole will grow]. This paper will cover Ms. Burns as a contemporary business leader in discussing her leadership approach, greatest achievements, and challenges while exploring power bases as well as a comparison of her leadership ending in a few things current leaders should take from her impressive life. Contemporary Business Leader Ursula M. Burns an American businesswoman who overcame tremendous obstacles to rise to the pinnacle of the business world. As Burns herself admits, people pointed out to her that she had three obstacles in her life: “I was black. I was a girl. And I was poor.” (Chicago Tribute, 2014). From humble beginnings in a New York low-income housing project to the top position in a Fortune 500 company as a trail blazer for black women. Attending a private catholic high school with an emphasis on teamwork and higher education, Burns continued her education earning her master’s degree in engineering from Columbia University in 1981. She joined Xerox after graduation and worked on product development progressing through varied leadership positions to senior vice president in 2000. Burns was named Xerox president in 2007 followed with CEO two years later and in a short three years became chairman of the board for Xerox. The first 15 years of her Xerox career was spent in an engineering lab, working with a teammate for 4 years on one project shows dedication, teamwork, and loyalty. When the project was a 2
success, she stated “We did it” in reference to her team’s accomplishment not her own (Sethi, 2015). Burns displays a transformational leadership style by using “her personality, character, and insight to inspire followers” (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). Standing with integrity as a role model and leading with actions instead of simply words will inspire a team, organizations, or anyone to achieve great things. Burns exemplifies her life and leadership style by taking something that is humble and transforming it into something magnificent. Leadership Approach CEO Burn’s type of leadership is on display from her own statement “We're in the business of enabling our clients to focus on their real business while we take care of their document-intensive business processes behind the scenes.” (Colvin, & Schwab, 2010). While this seem mundane it can be inspiring to technicians who like solving problems but want to know why and for what purpose. CEO Burns has given them one; for the greater good of all posterity. Burns has already hit two of the four parts of leadership, leading through inspiring effort and planning by setting a direction. She is inspiring the Xerox employees to help all other businesspeople to do their jobs, and is setting a direction by saying it will be tied to their document-intensive business, i.e... Xerox will stay true to its strengths. It seems Burns is a combination of visionary and servant leadership. The connection to the characteristics of a visionary leader are listed above. The company will work towards its strength to help others benefit the entire world. That is pretty visionary in a return to what works sense. No need to reinvent the wheel for this pioneer. Burns clearly believes the way to help Xerox flourish will be through focusing on improving the individual employees one at a time. This is exemplified in the title of her book “where you are is not who you are” (Burns, 2021). Burns goes on to tell a story of a personal journey to success. It is easily deduced her upward movement through leadership to 3
land her in the top spot at Xerox is because she has gotten individuals to improve to better the whole. This growth of the individual is telling and beneficial for all. Which enable her to stand in a position to chart a course for the future as a leader interested in the benefit of the employees and society as a whole. Greatest Achievement Ursula Burns’ personal achievements are inspirational to all, especially the 80,000 employees of Xerox, rising through the ranks from a low-income intern to the first African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Financial Executive, 2014). Just as inspiring are her career achievements as CEO, focusing on diversity and serving people. Burns believes that the best way to get diversity is through actions, be inclusive and start at home (Harvard Business Review, 2021). Burns advocates for how she was able to become CEO of Xerox, the company started focusing on diversity in the early 1990’s, focusing on recruiting and mentoring African- American men, then women (Solman, 2014). Because of Burns’ organizational power and networking, she was selected by President Obama to create a STEM Education Coalition, Change the Equation, that targeted underrepresented students in underserved communities by improving STEM education (Sethi, 2015). Her commitment to diversity and creating more opportunities for minority and women CEOs is evidence of Burns’ influence as a leader and inspirational leadership as a transformational leader and success of her power bases. Handling a Challenge Ursula led a quite extraordinary life while growing up in the 70’s and faced many challenges. Her mother put her in the best Catholic schools in her formative years and she went on to ger her college bachelor’s degrees at Polytechnic Institution of New York University and her master’s degree at Columbia University. Once in the corporate world, being an African 4
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