I realized I was more convincing to myself and to the people who were listening when I actually said what I thought, versus what I thought people wanted to hear me say.
Ursula BurnsRead
Fresh out of college, you tend to join a company because it's a job. But, you tend to stay because it becomes a career; you start to feel at home. In the beginning of your career, you're focused on you: 'I like this place because I'm doing rewarding work; they take good care of me; the people are nice; there's runway for me,' etc.
Interpretation
Initially, you work for a job, but as you grow, it becomes a fulfilling career that feels like home.
Ursula Burns highlights the evolution of a professional journey, transitioning from simply seeking employment to developing a meaningful career. At first, individuals may join a company for the basic benefits it offers, but over time, their connection deepens as they find personal satisfaction in their work environment and relationships, leading to a sense of belonging and purpose.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a speech during a graduation ceremony to encourage new graduates to seek meaningful careers.
I realized I was more convincing to myself and to the people who were listening when I actually said what I thought, versus what I thought people wanted to hear me say.
My mother was amazing. I guess, in our community, if you wanted to get by you had to work hard. So she cleaned offices. She did everything that you could imagine. We were really poor. But she would say, 'Where you are is not who you are.'
My perspective comes in part from being a New York black lady, in part from being an engineer. I know I'm smart and have opinions worth being heard.
I'm a black lady from the Lower East Side of New York. Not a lot intimidates me.
Most professional women I know - myself included - long since gave up looking for a rulebook or a roadmap; we make it up as we go along. Every day presents a new choice, a new challenge, which makes long-term career planning seem like an especially abstract exercise.
By an irony of fate, my first employment was as a draughtsman. I hated drawing; it was for me the very worst of annoyances. Fortunately, it was not long before I secured the position I sought, that of chief electrician to the telephone company.
Putting lifestyle first is how you find a job - not a calling.
Sometimes you take a job for the money, sometimes you take it for the location, sometimes you take it for the script; there are just a number of reasons, and ultimately what you see is the whole landscape of it. But I can tell you from behind the scenes - that's what it is, as an actor.
My only advice is to try to get the job that's most like the job you want, rather than the one that's more prestigious. Always try to be the talent.
Our career is not something that we go out and *find.* Your perfect career is something that emerges from deep within you. When you are aligned with the truth within yourself, then you magnetize people and circumstances which align with that truth.
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