Carla Harris
In Lead to Win, Carla Harris delivers a guidebook for modern leaders to be influential in any environment, especially this one. She’s widely known as a public speaker hired by companies like Amazon to motivate their organizations. During our interview she was a force of nature, leaning in to every question with a level of authenticity that was palpable.
As a long time executive at Morgan Stanley, Carla was appointed by President Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council in 2013. When I asked her if she had Ivy League aspirations as she earned her MBA and degree in economics from Harvard she uttered two words with such clarity.
“Absolutely not.”
Carla always excelled academically, but her initial aspiration was to attend UCLA because her aunt lived in the area. She was inclined to learn about schools like Harvard and Cornell after she heard rumblings about her friends applying to those universities. When she inquired about the Ivy League schools with her counselor, he too uttered two words with such clarity.
“Don’t bother.”
Carla is negatively motivated — an attribute she said gets from her mother. Not only did she apply to all the schools in her area and the Ivy League universities, she got into all of them. Even though she didn’t receive a scholarship from Harvard, she attended and graduated while working two jobs to pave her way through school.
“My mom asked how we were going to pay for this? I said I don't know but I’m going [to Harvard] and that’s all she wrote. I graduated Manga Cumme laude holding three jobs and financial aid. I tell kids it can be done. And this is one of the elements I talk about in the book. As a leader, you have to be willing to have an open ear and listen to those around you — but you also need to listen to your gut. If I hadn’t balanced both I would have never made that decision.”The catalyst for Carla’s new book were the many solicited conversations she was having with executives who were using leadership playbooks from the 1990s in this new corporate environment. “How do you create an environment where people see you as inclusive? Because now on the other side of the pandemic, we're struggling with things like with whether to work from home or the office. When we're struggling with all these issues we must have the courage to recreate or redefine cultures — which requires a measure of authenticity and transparency.”
Carla says that if you’re thinking of embarking on a journey of leadership and managing others — you should definitely enjoy investing in people and be open to navigating the challenges and struggles that people have as they evolve themselves. A significant portion of your job is going to be about decision making and putting people in the right seats at the right time.
As a commitment I’ve thought deeply about, how can I know if I would enjoy managing people before actually doing the job? Two words with equal clarity were text messaged to me by my friend and leadership author and advisor, Ryan Hawk.
“You won’t.”
Another pearl of wisdom is where Carla urges leaders to be intentional on their approach and to reflect on how they want to be perceived.
“I believe that whenever someone is standing in front of you, and especially if you have the leadership jersey on, they are consuming you. So the question is, how do I wanna be consumed? How do I want this person to feel when they leave my presence? What do I want them to think? And if you just take some time to be intentional about that, that will govern your behavior as you go into that interaction.”
I found myself nodding as Carla continuously dropped these pearls of wisdom, especially when she explained the expectations of the modern workforce.
“The last two and a half years has taught us is that people are thinking critically about their experiences while they work. Do they feel like they are learning, being challenged, and valued? You have to lead more thoughtfully today because if you were a leader in the eighties or nineties your report card was revenue, profitability, market share and shareholder returns.”
As we were discussing the need for leaders to be magnets for talent — I explained to Carla that I could could count the great managers I’ve worked for on less than one hand. She urged that there is a growing realization of hiring managers who churn people which ultimately impacts revenue targets. Leaders who can attract and develop talent will be invaluable moving forward.
One of the pearls of wisdom Carla is widely known for in her motivational keynote speeches is “calling a thing a thing,” or calling out the elephant in the room as they say in corporate jargon.
“We have all been in a room where we know something should have been said. That’s why you need courage to call a thing a thing. While the best leaders admit they don’t have all the answers, they need courage to be an inclusive leader and to engage enough with their team to invite them in the solution making process.”
My favorite quote from Lead to Win is around cultivating self-awareness. I’ve found it one of the more difficult things to address because as it describes it’s hard to see.
“Everyone has a blind spot. Identify yours and make it a priority to eliminate it.”
“If you have a really good friend or who I like to call a peer mentor, somebody who's going to give it to you straight, no chaser, and has have your best interests at heart, you can ask them. Say, ‘Look, you've seen me for 30 years. Where do I have some blind spots? I'm not sure I see them.’”
As Carla eloquently delivered a masterclass of leadership — I sensed the urgency of how people in positions of leadership need to adapt and how the ones using the playbooks of old will eventually be exposed. The 2-3 hour commutes have vanished as employees value different things to balance work-life integration. The people who exhibit traits like active listening and who cultivate the self-awareness required to lead will flourish in the new normal.
Watch the interview with Carla Harris:
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