Growing up in a modest family in Kingston, Jamaica, Peter Burns recalls washing car windshields at gas stations to earn money to buy a bicycle that had no seat or brakes. He never saw a fully assembled bicycle until he was 12 years old, when his family emigrated from Jamaica to the United States due to political unrest in his home country. The family moved to New York, and Burns got a job in the District Attorney’s Office while in high school. Throughout his 20-year career in the US military, Burns traveled the world and held various positions, including representing the US State Department on NATO issues. From there, Burns spent 20 years as an executive at Nokia.
He is currently CEO and President of leadership coaching company Peter Burns Enterprises. Here, Burns shares how his experiences have influenced his desire to develop future leaders.
“My experience building that bike showed me I can build anything. You just have to be willing to work hard, learn and fail. I don’t give up because of failure. There’s an old saying in the military: ‘If you think you’re going to fail, hurry up and finish it.’ My career in the military and the fundamental things I learned growing up have allowed me to take the environment I’m in and look for ways to succeed or grow from it. That’s why I try to mentor as many people as I can – to expose the next generation from an educational standpoint and get them to look beyond their circumstances and look for opportunities where they are.
“We had food on the table. My father took good care of our family. If I was hungry, I would find a fruit tree and pick a piece of fruit to eat. I might not have been full, but I wasn’t starving. I could walk to the sea and my brothers, family and cousins could go fishing. They didn’t use fishing poles, they just cast their nets, caught what they could and came back. You never let your circumstances stop you from achieving what you are capable of. I made mistakes. But I’ve made enough mistakes to learn from and keep moving forward.
“We’re first generation immigrants from Jamaica. There was a work ethic in our family, and my parents would say, ‘Do what needs to be done, do what needs to be done.’
