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As outstanding as the success story of Xerox, the world leader in producing photocopiers and similar products for long, it is the story of Ursula Burns who is the Chief Operating Office of the group and the woman who took this company to such heights. It does not matter whether you come from the professional world or some other; what matters here is that you know where she comes from and how today’s Xerox Ursula Burns took to top. The lady behind Ursula, her mother, though was economically poor but was richer than many others in terms of her commitment to send her to the Catholic school and to work hard for raising enough funds. Although she ran a day care centre, she knew it was not enough if else Ursula was to be sent for higher education. Her efforts materialized positively as Ursula completed here Mechanical Engineering and later on mastered from the Columbia University. As her first ever assignment post completing masters when she joined as an intern at Xerox Ursula Burns never thought this brand will glue with her name for lifetime. Joining in 1980, she was handed over numerous roles in planning and product design functions. But something to be called an actual turning point in her life only emerged when she took over as Executive Assistant to the then Senior Executive Wayland Hicks. Tough and fearless as her mother, Ursula took over the responsibility though she knew this role was never easy. And her commitment and hard work paid off quite well during 1991 to 1999, the period during which she elevated from just an executive assistant to the Vice President level, a person responsible for global manufacturing. But the urge to grow was not to stop here; not unless she had acquired the highest position in her company. By the year 2009, Ursula went on leaving footprints of success and rode her way to top as CEO. She owes all this success and popularity to her mother and has candid view towards it. “Thanks to my mother’s philosophy, which taught to speak up my mind and share my view every time I am given a chance. All that you see as part of managerial effectiveness is the outcome of those small things I learnt from my mother – whether it is the ethics in business, long term goals for financial growth, expansion, powerful branding and whatever.” Reading through these lines, we can easily make out how she feels about that day when she assisted Wayland Hicks and later on the dream about Xerox Ursula Burns must have visualized then.
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