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I realized I was more convincing to myself and to the people who were listening when I actually said what I thought, versus what I thought people wanted to hear me say.

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
Thought
Wanted
People
Convincing
Versus
Realized
Listening
Hear
Actually

More quotes by 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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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.
Ursula Burns
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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.
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.
Ursula Burns
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As Ive progressed in my career, Ive come to appreciate -- and really value -- the other attributes that define a companys success beyond the P&L: great leadership, long-term financial strength, ethical business practices, evolving business strategies, sound governance, powerful brands, values-based decision-making.
Ursula Burns
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Where you are is not who you are
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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Admiration takes on a whole new level when you appreciate just how complex it is to run a modern business.
Ursula Burns
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Believe that there are no limitations, no barriers to your success --- you will be empowered and you will achieve.
Ursula Burns
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I'm a black lady from the Lower East Side of New York. Not a lot intimidates me.
Ursula Burns
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Fresh out of college, you tend to join a company because it's a job. But, you tend to stay because it becomes a career you start to feel at home. In the beginning of your career, you're focused on you: 'I like this place because I'm doing rewarding work they take good care of me the people are nice there's runway for me,' etc.
Ursula Burns
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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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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.
Ursula Burns
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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.
Ursula Burns
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You don’t have to be at every volleyball game. We can’t guilt ourselves.
Ursula Burns
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Xerox is really good at managing documents, and we're definitely good at managing through a process.
Ursula Burns
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I want to stop transforming and just start being.
Ursula Burns
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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.
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.
Ursula Burns
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I've had many mentors, but the one that has the most impact was my mother.
Ursula Burns