Ursula Burns, the first Black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company, says she climbed the career ladder with a simple strategy: relentlessly taking advantage of every opportunity thrown her way at work, no matter how inconvenient.
“I don’t think there was a single thing I said no to in the first 15 years of my career at Xerox,” Burns, who led Xerox from 2009 to 2016, told WSJ. Magazine in an interview published last week. “The first time I was sent to Japan, I was only asked because most everyone else said no, and that trip and what I accomplished was one of the most important moves I ever had in my career.”
Saying yes to business trips and extra assignments gave her opportunities to set herself apart from her colleagues, she said.
“This is something that I was trained to do by my mother and schooling: You did what you were asked, and you don’t hand in sloppy work,” said Burns. “So, I think one of my superpowers is that I take very few things for granted. I hustle through everything. People try to get there without paying the dues. I didn’t think of them as dues.”
DON’T MISS: How to start a side hustle to earn extra money
Burns took the reins at Xerox after nearly three decades at the company, becoming the first-ever Black woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company. She’s credited for leading the company’s transformation into an international business services company, from a photocopier brand.
She stepped down after the business split into two companies, Xerox and Conduent.
Taking on new professional opportunities can require personal sacrifice — or, at the very least, some intentional teamwork. Burns, a mother of two, often relied on her husband to take care of their children when she couldn’t be physically present, she told CNBC Make It in 2022.
“I would not be able to be CEO of the company unless I outsourced the caring for my kids,” Burns said. “I was not a believer that you had to go to all your kids’ games. I just don’t understand what that’s all about.”
Prominent business leaders like Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and former Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson have also noted agreeing to every work opportunity helped advance their careers — but it’s not always realistic advice, especially if you’re on the brink of burnout.
If you’re offered a work opportunity but don’t have the time or mental capacity to tackle it right away, you can ask for more time or request a little bit of help, psychologist Cortney Warren wrote for CNBC Make It last year.
Such a request “sets the expectation that you’re both willing to do what’s required and reasonably need the time it takes to do well,” wrote Warren.
If you really do need to decline a task, do so tactfully: Make your response “20% ‘no’ and 80% alternative solution,” recommends leadership coach Brandon Smith.
Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Pre-register now and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
