The leadership paper of Ursula Burns is explored the black female who is the leader and entrepreneur. The whole paper has three parts. First I will introduce her leadership traits, these are important and influential her leadership style in the future. Next the body of the easy is the leadership styles. Her main leadership style is the directive style. Next to directive her leadership behavior is supportive. Finally, I use a critical think that what can we learn from her achievement in hospitality industry.
Ursula Burns as Anna M. Mulcahy’s successor, she became the new CEO and chairwoman. As described in the following profile, Burns has taken her management experience and used it to better lead Xerox Crop. Compared her successful career, I force on her behaviors on the company. I will make a research on the Ursula Burns who leader the advance of Xerox which is one of the “fortune 500” companies. I want to know what are her leadership styles or behaviors she uses to success, and what are the characteristic which to be worthy we can be guided in the hospitality industry.
Decide destiny by myself Ursula Burns had a hard childhood that she live in an apartment “Baruch Houses”,it is the house that government subsidized people who has low salary in the east side of Manhattan. Her mother who was poor as a church mouse contrived to bring up her three children alone. Burns is not only seeing the courage in the life, but also training her perseverance from her mother. Burns in an event of Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), said, “I seemed hear that she talks to me, ‘the background cannot decide anybody’s destiny’.
In the whole of the course which Burns experiences, she enjoys this great benefit of her mother. Since her option jarred with others, she never gives up her idea. The characters that she shows that the strong and struggle against the adverse circumstance is affecting her leadership behaviors. Expert & experiences Her mechanical engineering background has been the key, “she maintains. ”This type of technical degree opens the door to a broader set of career opportunities. ” (Giscombe, 2009) Burns selects a discipline which mechanical engineering.
Comparing the traditional profession like nurse, she prefers to study mathematics and sciences. She then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute of NYU in 1980 and a master of science in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University a year later. When she studies in the Columbia University, Burns work in Xerox as a trainee on summer, she began a long career with the file system company whose headquarters is in t Connecticut. With her several years experiences in Xerox, she learn knowledge and skills. Her growth is from an intern to a middle manager.
Her excellence work cannot without her effort. She was lucky, a chance led her to meet a top-level executive who guide her that be faithful, unremitting, daily effort toward a new directed purpose. These laid the foundations of her success by study and hard work. Frankness Ursula Burns was a female who is frankness, businesslike and firmness of will. Eleven years ago, Burns had been invited to a seminar of term work by the vice-president who responded the sales and guest service. She dissatisfied the views that the other conventioneer announces the corporation executives with women.
Burns expressed her critical of it. Waylon Hicks, who is the vice-president of Xerox, deserves the praise of her conduct. After Ursula Burns become the CEO of Xerox, the employees and executives said she inside and outside that, she has industry knowledge and technical prowess deeply, in the work she refer to afford the risks who characterizes frankness and humor. This great woman leader looks as if never afraid to speak candidly about the company’s priorities and how it will grow in the future. Her confidences and firmness on her belief influence her employees and more different colors and race.
There are some Leadership Traits about Burns. Based on these traits, we can study her leadership style easily. Let me enumerated leadership behaviors to us. Burns is a directive leadership behavior leader. One constant theme in the media is that Burns is self-aware and authentic. Her personality seems to resonate well with her employees and the business community. And also Burns is known for her blunt directness in speech and actions. She isn’t afraid to speak candidly about the company’s priorities and how it will grow in the future.
According to an article from Business Week, executives inside and outside the company speak of “her deep industry knowledge and technical prowess, as well as her frankness, sharp humor, and willingness to take risks. ” Burns has technical knowledge. So she can guide her employees to research and development the new performances when the company head in a tar barrel. She motivated her followers and conveying expertise. She prefers to the importance of managing individuals in different ways and not intentionally intimidating people but rather relating to them and their individual perspectives.
As CEO, Burns would encourage people who do the things. She communicated with her team, and makes them realize what her purposes are with a motivate behavior. The correlation between a manager’s leadership style and the productivity and motivation of employees is apparent at Xerox, where employees feel a sense of importance and a part of the process necessary to maintain a successful and profitable business. Moreover, Burns spends about 50% of her time making sure people are “tuned” correctly. A consistent message from the best leaders is hiring well and inspiring those hires to execute strategically and consistently.
It is an important that the leader has an aligned and passion team. Because she thinks that the employees are the points in order satisfied customer. The Key of the stakeholders is the united team and capable followers. Let me look at her achievements to prove my option. Burns was named president of worldwide business services in September 2009. She had outsourced their largest to Singapore-based Flextronics International by October . This action is breaking with corporate culture. Finally there are 1,000 people were cut and 5,000 jobs were transferred to Flextronics.
The company executions were applauded by analysts. The report show the shift would shave roughly $250 million in costs. The money can provide flexibility to develop other products. When Xerox was going to bankruptcy, Burns show her capability with the professional knowledge and experiences. She spearheaded the outsourcing of manufacturing, increased the competitiveness of the business by putting emphasis on products geared toward small- to midsized businesses, and worked to get the support of the board. Procter & Gamble’s CEO Bob MacDonald described how her leadership abilities stem from management techniques. She understands the technology and can communicate it in a way that a director can understand it” (Bynes & Crockett 2009).
Burns show us goals which clarifying and work methods to motivate her team to restore the Xerox to profitability. Supportive Leadership Behaviors Burns has the second leadership style is supportive. Even though some people think the supportive and directive is the antonym, I think the different leadership behaviors are the switch roles for the team leader and the entire company. At Xerox, Ursula Burns talks about the “Xerox family” when referring to her firms’ corporate culture.
But when speaking to employees as a change leader, she also says, “When we are in the family, you do not have to be as nice as when you are outside the family. I want us to stay civil and kind, but we have to be frank- and the reason be frank is because we are all in the same family. ” She trust and respect her employees, while helping followers develop abilities and careers. Burns is an example of a leader that is not egocentric, self-serving, or believes the company is all about them. When the Xerox faces a war that brutal business outlook, the major customers were buying less equipments which have been the affect by the economy.
The stock price keeps dropping. Managers had to curbing the using of paper so that cost saving. What was worst, Anne M. Mulcahy, the departing CEO were pulling the $17. 6 billion-a-year copier giant from the brink of bankruptcy and restored profitability, as her successor, Burns has a lot of work to do. Based on the un-optimistic circumstance, Burns has been established the credibility inside the company which includes taking a media calls for the investor meetings and visiting customers. Her role is the represent of a loyal team and the supreme commander of entrepreneurial innovation.
She responsible for negotiate contract with Labor Units which has 2,000 workers. Burns does not patronizing them, and she respect and sympathize them. She always thinks of the approaches that how she tells her employee her idea, and how the plant can make them achieve her goals. It is important that she put the company back on its feet. When Ursula’s interview at The Wall Street Journal’s Viewpoints Executive Breakfast Series, the journalist asked about her about how she think the relationship with the employees. Ursula’s personal insights make me admire her, and I ensure she s a supportive leader.
Burns think the successful performances are not achieved without the team which the members are worked effectiveness. Burns as a leader in the corporation was very friendly. She has worked in the company 30 years ago. Every employee and other department managers understand she is a female like I mentioned above the traits. Her weakness It is no doubt that Burns is a successful leader, but she has her weakness. When she has the meeting she shows impatient. She is a frank female, but she lacks the patient to listening others options.
Moreover, directive leadership style mentioned that, if an employee has not done things correctly, she will not reform him until he works by the way which Burns thinks right with long-time. It is seems compulsivity that control her followers to do job with her fashion. At large degree, a leader will have a few autocracies because she must manage other managers and employees. Sometimes the followers will conflict and resist her manage. This sentiment or trending expands the whole team in order to the dispersion of forces. A lacking of unity team is hazardous to the corporation. In a word, Burns case affords us lesions that merit attention.
Application in the hospitality industry Supportive employees The supportive leadership style of Burns is really worth of learning. The new diversity of culture factors can be show inside the hospitality. Complicated and huge of the management system, each of the connection and strange department, the leader who can supportive them to accomplished the corporation? The supportive and Charismatic leadership behaviors represent the property of female that is flexible management. Xerox Corporation enhances a large of number women employees in 1980s. They participated in the work with a higher degree.
One of the sales representatives Monika has a nice work, but she feels she cannot strike the right balance between with the family and occupation. When she wants to leave the firm her boss assign her an appropriate job. Monika also remembers the boss said, “It is hoped that in your new job you talents will be better utilized that before. And to develop your career as good as you can be. In hotel, it is necessary the flexile that manage the employees. Especially in the relationship with the senior executives and mid-level employees, we can choice the approach that supportive and concern them to develop the effectively.
Because I think the behaviors and achievements have an equal status. A hotel needs loyal followers who stood together and worked to overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Aligned around a common goal Of the many things I agree with Ursula Burns on, one I want to draw attention to is the comment she makes about people “aligned around a common goal can do just about anything”. In business, there’s still this persisting notion that employees are there to simply to carry out the orders of those in charge. What we need to recognize is that employees and their leaders should be viewed as a team working collectively on a shared goal.
From that vantage point, work is no longer about making the boss look good, or having employees taking menial tasks off the desk of the leader. Instead, it’s about a team effort to reach that common goal, by having a leader recognizing that their role is to build on the strengths of their employees, while removing the obstacles like bureaucracy and office politics that can slow the team down. Never stop learning Even though the leader does not need to become the expert whose has the content of a particular domain or field knowledge, the learning increasing can boost our confidence.
It is a key that you can be success with hard work and opportunity. Burns have work in Xerox 30 years old, she was enhanced by an occasionally, but she can growth as a chairman at one of 500 fortune company who is not relied on the good luck. When she was an employee, she always study and work hard. Her superiority not only comes from prior education background or extensive working experience, but also depends on the quick-learning ability and astuteness of requiring updated information. Some upper-level managers in hospitality industry always take their extensive working experience as qualification of being leaders for granted.
This statement is wrong. A prominent leader will never satisfy with what he has already known and constantly desires to receive more information and knowledge. Many newly-built hotels have already installed a great number of advanced facilities to improve the efficiency in operation and service delivery. Therefore, managers should push themselves to learn how to operate these new systems and how to take full advantage of utilizing them to go beyond customers’ expectations. Accumulation of experiences Burns worked at Xerox more than 30 years ago. Every job she was work. She gathers a lot of experience and lessons from the different positions.
From 1992 to 2000, she leads a team accomplish the businesses that include the business about print websites and offices. Her positions were various, like senior vice president, Corporate Strategic Services, heading up manufacturing and supply chain operations. These are valuable experiences. Before we have an achievement, we would complain that we have talent but no opportunity to use it. Actually, in hospitality, one person work at the one position is very natural. One of the reasons which the hotel has a higher turnover is the employee thinks jobs are not absorb themselves, in other word, they cannot learn from the company.
The idea is very dangerous. In hospitality, no one can rapid advancement. In the long job, we must keep our goals and accumulate more knowledge and experiences. Social responsibility Burns has a love person. Even though she was busy in the work, she always gives it back to the society and community. Burns attend the She thinks training the next generation of engineers and scientists are benefits to develop the Xerox with long-run. In China, there are lots of millionaires and successful entrepreneurs, but they less give their fortune back to the social. They just know entre the money and rich form the social and community.
They do not understand that giving and sharing are spontaneous expressions of joy. That is reason that Burns always keep smile in the every of photo. The social responsibility is a moral and we never learn from the class. Her self-giving to the community make me, a hospitality student, a worthy of realization. The true joy of game is the excitement of creation. All in all, don’t work for the money but for something you genuinely love. Conclusion In my research paper, I introduced the leadership traits and leadership style Ursula M. Burns is not only a successful entrepreneur but also a powerful leader.
She solved the bankrupt with the Xerox Corporation as a female CEO. Her confidence and enthusiastic motive the others. Her frank and humor make her move head. Burns is a legendary black female, and some for her advice I conclusion that I will be sure to use. First, we must have a clear communication and participation positively. No matter which occupations you do, you must share your idea to others and tell others what you want to do. If we are failure that communicates with each other, we must re-consider our value by ourselves. In addition, Burns is the kind of person who always calls a spade a spade.
Her employees adapted her frank and honest. What the communication styles we can use that is the other problem we should think. The different scenes and people need different skills to conversation with. So we need learn the skill from the more work experiences. Second, we should insisted that what we belief. We could face a few difficult challenges. We must examine our own culture which our core values and beliefs. The belief is supported which confidence and motivates our goals to accomplish, and people aligned around a common goal could do just anything.
Align yourself first with your values, around your vision, and then reach for others. Only have a belief can you leader others. It is consolidate the basis with a successful team. Finally, do good work today. Burns focused on what she committed to do. Sometimes one focuses on the future so much so, they neglect their day to day duties. When asked in 2006, “What about becoming a CEO? Burns responded “I can’t let myself get confused by tomorrow,” As her mother taught her, “If I keep focused on what I need to do today, the future will take care of itself. The advices are important to us. We often imagine and plan the tomorrow, but forget the day which we put the effort. So Ursula Burns teach me the most significant that I must focused on today!
References
- ADAM , B. (2010). Xerox’s new chief tries to redefine its culture . BU1 of the New York edition
- Alleyne, S. (2011). Black enterprise . Unduplicated success: named CEO of Xerox, Ursula M. Burns is making history as the first African American woman to run one of the world, Retrieved from http://www. allbusiness. com/company-activities-management/financial-performance/13897075-1. html
- Bonnie , D. (2010). Thegrio’s 100. Ursula Burns, Xerox CEO, an example to be copied.
- Daniel K, P. (2010). Ursula burns inspires black women everywhere!. Feature Article , Elijah Jordan , T. (2010). Xerox ceo ursula m. burns to speak at commencement. Address to culminate sesquicentennial celebration, 130(52), Forbes. (2008, 09 19).
- Griffin , R. (2008). Management: Prinicples and practices . (10 ed. , p. 299). South-Western: Division of Thomson Learning.
