CREW Boston's June luncheon and annual meeting in the Wharf Room at the Boston Harbor Hotel featured Carla Harris, vice chairman of global wealth management, managing director and senior client advisor at Morgan Stanley. Carla, who is also the author of
Strategize to Win and
Expect to Win, inspired attendees with Carla’s Pearls, valuable lessons she’s learned through her successes and failures during a long career as a woman on Wall Street.
Carla drove home the importance of not only surviving in the workplace, but thriving. She also provided key insight on how to get out of bad situations and achieve success despite any type of environment. Here are the key Pearls that are crucial for anyone’s success equation:
Perception is the copilot to reality: How others perceive you is directly related to your success – hard work is not enough. It’s imperative to understand the lens your superiors and coworkers are looking through and the adjectives they associate with success. With this information, you can train others to view you in a way that aligns with their vision of success. To do so, select three adjectives you’d like people to describe you that are consistent both with you are really are and also are valued in your organization.
Managing performance currency: According to Carla, performance is “worth a buck and a half.” Your performance currency represents how you are delivering what is asked of you and a little bit more. This is valuable because it helps you get noticed, paid or promoted and can attract a sponsor at your company. However, after awhile your performance currency will diminish because you’ve set the standard high and you will need to prove yourself in other ways.
Developing relationship currency: Relationships are worth more than performance “at $2.25” – and never devalues. Relationship currency is measured by the investment you make in the people in your work environment. To be successful, you will need everyone connected to you to recognize your outstanding contributions, not just your manager. Relationships are valuable because they provide you with the ability to make outside asks, access to other relationships and admit mea culpa in a comfortable environment. Your work cannot speak on its own, so it’s important to put your into context through your relationships.
Leaders must be comfortable taking risks: Taking risks shows you are comfortable with change, which is inevitable through your career. If you choose to keep your head down and only approach comfortable situations, your voice will become submerged and you’ll become irrelevant. Risk-taking also represents a lack of fear. If you are scared, you will always underpenetrate potential opportunities. The worst that can happen when taking a risk is failure, which provides you with the gifts of experience.
Nobody can be you the way you can: The last thing you should ever do is hide what is uniquely you. People gravitate towards individuals who are confident and comfortable in their own skin. Not only will that help you stand out, but by presenting your authentic self, you are also encouraging others to do the same, which ultimately helps improve performance.
Carla’s emphasized the importance in understanding your own value and making sure you effectively articulate it to others. If you can achieve that, you’ll be on your way to success.
