One woman asked how she should handle rumors that her boss viewed her as bossy and aggressive. To the end, the language stuck: People began to fear meetings with Harris because she had earned a reputation for being “tough.”ĭuring the audience Q&A, Harris put this pearl into action. Undeterred and even encouraged by the challenge, she applied-she was accepted into every Ivy League school where she submitted an application.Īfter the interaction with the senior manager, Harris recalled, “I walked tough, talked tough.” She incorporated the language and described herself as “tough,” because, she emphasized, employees must use the language that they want others to use about them like an echo effect. She gave the example of when she defied her high school guidance counselor’s advice to convey not only her toughness but her resilience: Her counselor told her not to apply to Ivy League universities. She felt authentically tough, and certainly “tough enough” for Wall Street. Harris recalled feeling surprised, too, because she believed “toughness” was one of her strongest attributes. This pearl was inspired by an “aha” moment about five years into Harris’ career, when a senior manager said, “You’re smart, you work hard, but I don’t think you are tough enough for this business.” Harris felt discouraged: “The last thing you want as a woman, especially as a woman on Wall Street, is that you aren’t tough enough,” she said. Harris advised the audience to brainstorm the attributes they aspire to embody, keeping in mind their employer’s values and why they were hired. Other people make decisions-including pay, promotions, and assignments-when an employee is not in the room, which is why that employee must try to influence and manage her colleagues’ impressions of her to the best of her ability through language and actions. “My pearls have been tried and tested,” Harris quipped to laughter and applause from the audience.Īt the lecture, Harris shared key pearls, including one which she placed great emphasis on: “perception is the co-pilot to reality.” According to Harris, the work you do is less important than how others perceive you and your work. To succeed in an industry that espouses meritocracy but does not always reward hard work, Harris developed her “well-earned ‘Pearls of Wisdom.’” These “pearls,” as she calls them, are set of tools, strategies, and insights sharpened by her own experience, and which are just as valuable-if not more so-than those found inside oysters. Rather, Harris explained, meritocracy “is always subjective because of the human element.” Yet, as a young Harvard graduate forging a career on Wall Street, Harris did not buy into the lingo or promise of meritocracy, because she knew that there is no objective truth to the word. “Every company will sell you ‘meritocracy,’” she observed.
She learned early in her career that “meritocracy” is a buzzword, rather than a reality. In her lecture, Harris attributed her success on and off Wall Street to a combination of her Ivy League pedigree-she holds an AB and an MBA from Harvard-and her strong work ethic, a product of growing up as a woman in the south. She is also an acclaimed gospel singer, and has recorded three albums and performed five sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall. Off Wall Street, Harris has achieved fame as an author of two bestsellers, Strategize to Win (2014) and Expect to Win (2009), both of which provide attainable strategies to overcome obstacles at work and climb the corporate ladder. Harris shared this and other “Pearls of Wisdom” to a captivated audience at Paul Brest Hall, proving how she embodies the spirit of the lecture’s namesake, Jing Lyman, who was a trailblazer-in every sense of the word-in promoting gender equality. Harris has fought for change throughout her more than thirty years on Wall Street, or what she, during her lecture, jokingly called “the Street.” Her ability to battle discrimination head on-among the many challenges she has faced in investment banking-earned her a reputation on the Street for being “tough.” According to her, these are positive and encouraging techniques for inciting change. In her lecture, Harris posed questions strategically and used “we” liberally. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance. Among many distinctions, she has been named to Fortune Most Influential List, Essence Magazine’s “50 Women Who are Shaping the World,” and U.
Currently, Harris holds the positions of Vice Chairman, Managing Director, and Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. “Can we have an adult conversation?” In her idiosyncratic, charismatic style, Carla Harris broached the tough issues about gender and racial discrimination at work during the Clayman Institute’s annual Jing Lyman Lecture held in early November.
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