From Intern To CEO20130922

From Intern To CEO: How 3 Execs Climbed To The Top从实习生到CEO：三位高管的成功历程While it’s easy to point to pedigree and the right network as the reasons many of today’s high-powered executives are where they are, not all of them were raised with silver spoons in their hands. In fact, quite a few iconic CEOs got their start with very humble beginnings.尽管人们很容易把显赫出身和良好人脉归结为今天许多位高权重的管理者获得现有成就的原因，但是并非所有的企业高管都拥有先天的优势条件。

实际上，有不少知名的首席执行官都是从底层起步的。

From taking unpaid internships to dropping out of college to take a mail room job, take a look at how these successful CEOs really did work their way from the bottom all the way to the top.从无薪实习、放弃大学学业到从事收发邮件的工作，让我们看看下面这些成功的首席执行官是如何依靠他们自身的努力，从底层员工晋升为企业高管的。

Ursula Burns厄休拉•伯恩斯（Ursula Burns）Chairman and CEO, Xerox施乐公司（Xerox）董事长兼首席执行官If you don’t transform, you’re stuck.”“如果你不改变，你就完蛋了。

”After growing up in a poor neighborhood in New York City’s Lower East Side, earning her master’s degree in mechanical engineering, and eventually becoming the first African American woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, Ursula Burns knows a thing or two about transformation.厄休拉•伯恩斯在纽约市下东区的贫民窟长大，她拥有机械工程硕士学位，最终成为领导一家《财富》500强企业的首位非洲裔美国女性，她对变革深有体会。

Raised by her mother, Burns was taught at an early age that hard work, determination, and flexibility were the keys to success. A great student at her Catholic high school, Burns was surprised at the lack of career options offered to her by her guidance counselor: nursing, teaching, or being a nun. Atthis point, Burns knew she would have to create her own destiny and chose chemical engineering (which eventually changed to mechanical engineering) as her college major.伯恩斯从小由母亲抚养长大，她在童年时期得到了这样的教导：努力工作、坚决果断和灵活性是获得成功的关键。

作为天主教高中的一名优秀学生，让伯恩斯感到惊讶的是，她的指导顾问提供给她的职业选择寥寥无几：只有护士、教师或修女。

在那个时候，伯恩斯就知道，她必须创造自己的命运，于是选择化学工程（最终改为机械工程）作为她的大学专业。

Her rise to the top started at the bottom of the Xerox ladder, as an intern. But managers quickly noticed her talent. One such manager was senior executive Wayland Hicks, who offered her a job as an executive assistant. Although an assistant role wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, after now having earned her master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University, Burns remembered what her mother had taught her—where you are is not who you are—and accepted the job.晋升为企业高管前，她一开始从施乐公司的底层起步，是一位实习生。

然而，有几位经理人立刻注意到了她的才能。

一位经理是高级主管韦兰•希克斯（Wayland Hicks），为她提供了行政助理的职位。

尽管担任助理职位并不完全符合她的设想，因为她此前在哥伦比亚大学（Columbia University）获得了机械工程硕士学位，然而伯恩斯想起了母亲对她的教导——你所处的环境并不能决定你的命运——于是她接受了这份工作。

That role turned out to be beneficial for Burns (and eventually for Xerox!), allowing her to learn the business and leadership skills from one of the company’s most respected executives. In 1999, she was named Vice President for Global Manufacturing and earned her title as Chairman and CEO in 2009.这份工作对伯恩斯来说大有裨益（最终也给施乐公司带来了好处）!让她从公司最受尊敬的一位高管那里学习业务和领导技能。

1999年，她被任命为负责全球制造业务的副总裁，并在2009年担任施乐公司董事长兼首席执行官。

The Moral: Always stay flexible and allow yourself to transform. Others—and you—may have an idea about whatyou’re supposed to be doing. But, by allowing yourself to adapt, new opportunities you never would’ve seen before will arise.启示：始终保持灵活性，让自己适应变革。

其他人——和你——可能知道你应该做什么事情。

但是，让你自己学会适应，你以前从未遇到的新机遇就会出现在面前。

RELATED:Founder of DreamWorks, Famed Talent Agent梦工厂（DreamWorks）创始人，知名演艺经纪人Happy is harder than money. Anybody who thinks money will make you happy, hasn’t got money.”“快乐比金钱更难得。

如果有人认为金钱会让你快乐，那是因为他还没有挣到钱。

”Now known for co-founding Hollywood giant DreamWorks SKG along with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg and having an impressive career as an entertainment mogul, Geffen’s beginnings started out modestly.如今大卫•格芬因为和导演斯蒂芬•斯皮尔伯格（Steven Spielberg）、杰弗瑞•卡森伯格（Jeffrey Katzenberg）共同创办好莱坞影业巨头梦工厂而出名，作为娱乐大亨，他拥有令人印象深刻的职业生涯，然而他发迹的起点微不足道。

Although he tried to take the traditional path by attending college, he quickly realized it wasn’t for him. And rather than suffering through four years for an education he didn’t want, he decided to pursue what really made him happy—the entertainment business.尽管他试图通过上大学走传统的职业道路，但是他很快意识到，这条路并不适合自己。

他并没有让自己在并不想要的四年大学教育中忍受痛苦，而是决定追求让他感到快乐的事情——娱乐业务。

Despite the fact he had no skills to woo employers (other than a stint in the CBS mail room), Geffen didn’t let that stop him. After being turned down for a job at a talent agency because he had no skills, he decided to get creative with his resume—and we’re not talking fancy graphics and fonts. After fibbing about his education (not something we recommend), he was hired as a mail room clerk at one of the most sought-after talent agencies in the business, William Morris Agency. Within a few years, Geffen had networked hisway into a job as a talent agent, and not long after, one ofthe industry’s greatest. Over 50 years and over $6 billion later, Geffen has retired a legend, even earning himself a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.尽管他没有什么技能来吸引雇主（除了在哥伦比亚广播公司的邮件收发室任职），不过大卫•格芬并没有为此止步不前。