Ursula Burns—first Black woman CEO in Fortune 500—on work-life balance
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Pressure to have it all is alive and well. Many working moms are faced with a greater burden in balancing work and home.
But former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns — who became the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company in 2009 — says she never bought into that narrative. She says that she actually relied on Lloyd Bean, her husband, to take care of the children. He also missed work, but she was able to climb up the ladder. She attributes her success in career to this strategy.
Burns, who is 63 years old, says that he would be incapable of being CEO of the company without outsourcing the care for his children. CNBC Make It.I was never a believer in the necessity of going to every child’s game. It’s just not clear to me what this is all about.
That mindset, Burns says, sometimes prompted negative feedback from other parents — but it worked for her. Burns says that even though she watched “every second”, she never actually saw the game. She instead used her time to unwind and solve crossword puzzles.
“I [wasn’t]She describes herself as a helicopter mother. “We did exactly what was required.”
Burns was the chief executive officer of Xerox between 2009 and 2016, when it split into Conduent and Xerox. She remained Xerox chairman until 2017.
She says that when she started to rise up the corporate ranks, Bean — a research scientist at the same company — retired early to become a stay-at-home dad. Burns claims that Burns’ sister, who lived close by, sometimes assisted with household chores.
The collective approach is what enabled her to be able to run Xerox, while also having several children. She says, “It takes village to do it right,” and she was able to give an example.
2009Burns was appointed by President Barack Obama as the White House National STEM Program Director. This program encourages STEM-related career choices for students. In 2015, she was elected vice chair of President’s Export Council. She held this position from 2015 through 2016.
Aside from her work on the boards of American Express, Uber and ExxonMobil’s board of directors, she has been a member of several other corporations. 2014. ForbesShe was ranked 22nd in the list of most powerful women worldwide.
Burns claims that she had two “unbelievably great kids” despite not being able to participate in after-school activities. Burns also said that she felt a little absent sometimes because of the rapid rise in her career. The only thing she regrets is not being more present in daily life, both at home and at the office.
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