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I've had many mentors, but the one that has the most impact was my mother.

Ursula Burns

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Ursula Burns
Age: 66
Born: 1958
Born: September 20
Business Executive
Engineer
Manhattan borough
New York City
Ursula M. Burns
Impact
Mother
Many
Mentors
Mentor

More quotes by Ursula Burns

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Admiration takes on a whole new level when you appreciate just how complex it is to run a modern business.
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I say to my team all the time that this is how I grew up: Always thinking that, at any minute, I could be unemployed. You have to scramble. You have to work hard and get ahead of things.
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My mother raised us to think that if we worked hard, and if we put our end of the bargain in, it would work out OK for us.
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Where you are is not who you are
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I want to stop transforming and just start being.
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This old notion that work is drudgery is nonsense. Most days, even back when Xerox was under siege, I could not wait to get to the office.
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I don't want to overemphasize this, but not a day goes by when I don't think about my mother and what she would think about what I just did. I often adjust my approach.
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If you go to Norway, Finland, Russia or Australia, youll see Xerox or Fuji-Xerox people, not just the name on the door. We have human beings who live and work and serve customers everywhere around the globe.
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CEOs resign when the internal dynamics of the company and the external dynamics of the company actually come together to say it is appropriate. When the internal dynamics ask you whether you have a replacement. I think the transition from CEOships have also become cartoonish.
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You don’t have to be at every volleyball game. We can’t guilt ourselves.
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Crankiness is a human attribute that when people walk in the door of Xerox, they remain human. The best way to get the best out of people is to not force them to be something other than they naturally are. Now what do they have to be? They have to be respectful. You can't be ridiculously disrespectful.
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Believe that there are no limitations, no barriers to your success --- you will be empowered and you will achieve.
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I don't think paper will go away. I do believe that the value of paper will change, and Xerox is working on changing that value. Consider a color page. Actual life is in color, but you keep reproducing it in black and white. You remove value. It's a bad thing to do.
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My mother was pragmatic, focused and extremely, exceedingly practical, and she was the ultimate self-determining person.
Ursula Burns
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The best way to change it is to do it. Right? And then after a while you become it, and it's easy.
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Dreams do come true, but not without the help of others, a good education, a strong work ethic, and the courage to lean in.
Ursula Burns
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Find something that you love to do, and find a place that you really like to do it in. I found something I loved to do. Im a mechanical engineer by training, and I loved it. I still do. My son is a nuclear engineer at MIT, a junior, and I get the same vibe from him. Your work has to be compelling. You spend a lot of time doing it.
Ursula Burns
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I'm an advocate for change and eager to break a little glass when needed.
Ursula Burns
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My perspective comes in part from being a New York black lady, in part from being an engineer. I know I'm smart and have opinions worth being heard.
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The world is changing. We all know this. And as that world changes, if you don't transform your company, you're stuck.
Ursula Burns