CLC 6 Purple group 2.5

doc

School

Grand Canyon University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

420

Subject

Management

Date

Apr 3, 2024

Type

doc

Pages

Uploaded by CountClover8167

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

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

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

American woman came with many of its own challenges. But being a woman was one major challenge and being African American was another one. Ursula said this in an interview, "Women presidents or CEOs of large global companies were non-existent at that time. Black women presidents of large global companies were unimaginable” (Katsomitros, 2019). There are two ways a person can rise to their challenges; they can take a managerial role or a leadership role. By taking a managerial role, they are the type of person who supports, activates, and takes responsibility for the work of others (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). By taking a leadership role, they are the type of person who becomes great by bringing out the best in the people who follow them (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). Ursula faced these challenges as a leader. She was raised a leader by her mother. Her mother raised them to work hard and speak up if she had something to say (Katsomitros, 2019). For ten years, she focused on climbing her way through Xerox. Being a female, black engineer, in a male dominated corporation, climbing the ladder had its struggles. She earned the respect of her colleagues and as her confidence grew so did her leadership roles. Power Base Ms. Burns used different power bases throughout her career specifically with Xerox to help resolve her challenges she faced as a black woman in a corporate world. First Dr. Burns used a power base that lied within herself as her personal power which was expert power. Expert power comes from the value the worker holds, such as skills, judgment, and knowledge that is desired by the company (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). To be CEO Burns possessed these skills that many others lacked within the company. Burns also used connection power in the early stages of her career at Xerox, she was offered a job as an executive assistant to a senior executive (Katsomitros, 2019). Through this position she used association power, this power is reached through the relationships you form with others who hold power within the organization (Uhl-et 5

al., 2021). She was able to make connections and network with people who held high positions, developing steppingstones to more connections in upper management. Once Burns became the CEO of Xerox, she also held position power, this power is obtained through a hierarchical position with Xerox (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). She was able to hold legitimate power which helped her become even more respected within the company. CEO Burns used the challenges she faced as a black woman in a corporate world to her advantage by flipping the script and viewing it as a positive rather than a negative. Dr. Burns used her race and gender in her advantage to never get lost, she would always stick out in a crowd in the corporate world (Ignatius, 2021) She took lead of her challenges by turning them into a positive outlook to elevate her career. Leadership Comparison Ursula Burns is known for her toughness and fortitude and has never been shy of speaking her mind and speaking up for her employees. She is a humble leader with great respect for her mentors who have had a guiding hand in her career ascension. As a leader Ursula Burns is known as a transformational leader by encouraging and inspiring her employees to set goals and rise above their own expectations. As a transformational leader she “focused less on making decisions or establishing strategic plans, and more on facilitating organizational collaboration that can help drive a vision forward” Anne Mulcahy, is the predecessor and key mentor to Ursula Burns and has been described as a transformation’s leader as well. She is known for her honesty, being open, and trustworthy. Being a transformational leader was the driving force for her focus on values of the company, customers she had worked with and got to know, employees, and always thinking of the future leading innovation in the to be her company’s greatest success. Their loyalty, true grit, and stubbornness made them the right leadership team for the times (Morris, 2007). Sharing some similarities and differences with Mulcahy, they were able to blend 6

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

their leadership styles and great duo. With a clear focus on building back their company’s reputation and reinventing Xerox they “worked together like combat soldiers in the same foxhole” (Morris, 2007). These two leaders had more similarities in their approach to how to lead. Burns was more outspoken and emphasized on teamwork and was not afraid to make decisions to make necessary adjustments and actions when they arose. Mulcahy was more democratic because she took in and listened to her team’s thoughts and ideas and made an effective choice for the company. Both were keen to the idea of teamwork and communication are keys in thriving in today’s business world. Both rose to the highest ranks of their company with “integrity by acting with honesty, credibility, and consistency in putting values into action” (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). Being a transformational leader Ursula Burns was an extraordinary leader. She worked tirelessly to promote teamwork and was fearlessly outspoken. She had the ability to look beyond into the future and was not afraid to make decisions. Ursula was an effective listener who took to heart what she learned from the customers’ needs and was loyal to her employees. Ursula was a dedicated engineer and transformed into a motivational and inspiring leader who became a successful businesswoman by breaking down barriers for all genders, races, ethnicities. Attributes Being a leader entails being able to ensure that not only things are completed, but also that people are cared for. To do so, a variety of attributes and traits are required to assure success in not only completing the work, but also caring for the people you are accountable for as a leader. Relationship power is, “the ability to influence others through access to connections and networks. This includes being in the center of information flows and being a well-liked and reliable partner in social networks.”, (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). CEO Burns demonstrated heavy 7

relationship power in her career which made her stand out among her peers and led her employees to understand proper followership. There are multiple traits leaders display such as drive, self-confidence, creativity, motivation, flexibility, and honesty and integrity (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). Ursula Burns displayed all these leadership traits throughout her years as CEO of Xerox. When asked in an interview with (Nussier, 2021) CEO Burns says, “First, they (employees) define the possibilities. Second, they (employees) select the key leaders in the next echelon of the company, help to select the leaders after that, and so on. Third, they empower. Next, they (employees) set the correct expectation for what excellence looks like, what greatness looks like. Then you let them go.” The ability to set standards for people to be empowered, define their possibilities, and empower them is closely related to CEO Burns' democratic leadership style. A democratic leader one that, “emphasizes both tasks and people” (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2021). Conclusion CEO Burns personal example is remarkable. No less so is her example at the forefront of business leadership. Having accomplished the highest highs and faced some of the most foundational challenges in this society. This piece spoke to who CEO burns is, what she has accomplished, and what challenges she has faced. As well this piece analyzed the challenges Dr. Burns faced, what leadership styles she employed, and from what power bases she acted. Finally, this work compared her and others leadership approaches as well as highlighted elements other leaders can take from CEO Burns great example. 8

References Burns, U. (2021). “I’m Here Because I’m As Good As You”. Harvard Business Review , 99 (4), 132–136. Colvin, G., & Schwab, C. (2010). C-SUITE STRATEGIES Ursula Burns. FORTUNE, 161(6), 96. Encouraging innovation: Q&A with xerox chairman and ceo ursula burns. (2014, March 22). Financial Executive, 30(2), 30. Ignatius, A. (2021). “I’m Here Because I’m As Good As You”: The HBR Interview with Ursula Burns. Harvard Business Review, 99(4), 132. Katsomitros, A. (2019). Against the odds: Ursula Burns’ extraordinary rise to the top. World Finance the Voice of The Market. Retrieved from: https://www.worldfinance.com/markets/against-the-odds-ursula-burns-extraordinary-rise- to-the-top Morris, B. (2007, November 19). Mulcahy and Burns saved Xerox. Can they share power? - October 15, 2007. Business News - Latest Headlines on CNN Business - CNN. https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/10/15/100536857/ index.htm Nussier, R. (2021, April 25). A Vision of Great Leadership. Triple Crown Leadership. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from https://triplecrownleadership.com/a-vision-of-great-leadership/ Sethi, C. (2015, January 22). Ursula Burns: From Engineer to CEO . ASME. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/ursula-burns-engineer-to- ceo 9

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Sethi, C. (2015, March). Q&A: Ursula Burns. Mechanical Engineering-CIME , 137 (3), 0. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A403784572/AONE? u=canyonuniv&sid=googleScholar&xid=421cdbb3 Solman, P. (2014, September 15). How xerox became a leader in diversity - and why that's good for business . https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/xerox-employees-arent-carbon- copies University of Massachusetts Global. (2020, February 12). What is transformational leadership and why is it effective? www.brandman.edu. https://www.umassglobal.edu/news-and- events/blog/what-is-transformational-leadership Uhl-Bien, M., Piccolo, R.F., Schermerhorn, J. R. & Bachrach, D.G. (2021). MGT- 420 organizational behavior and management with WileyPLUS. Wiley & Sons. 10

CLC 6 Purple group 2.5

Related Documents