As a woman, I wanted to write, and learn, about a female in an executive …show more content…
Olga Burns. First and foremost, Ursula Burns credits her mother with her success. She often quotes her mother’s admonition that “Where you are is not who you are.” (WYSK, 2012) She talks about her mother giving her children courage, will, and love; raising them to never feel that they were lacking in comparison to others. (MacLellan, 2009)
Olga Burns also advised her children to focus on leaving every place you come to a little better, rather than focusing on money and power. Olga’s third piece of advice that has stayed with her daughter is to “make sure that you happen to the right things” and not just worry about what happens to you. (Sellers, 2011)
Olga was “desperate” to make sure her children were educated and prepared to leave the projects behind. Ursula Burns has translated that into her passion for providing leadership for women and minorities and advancing the benefits of STEM. (Sellers, 2011) As Ursula has gotten older, she has come to recognize and value the wisdom of her mother’s words and guidance. (Burns) So powerful is her late mother’s influence that Ursula views everything she does through a filter of thinking through how her mother would react to the situation at hand and changing course accordingly. (Fast Company Staff,