Wharton’s Author Speaker Series Hosts Business Leader Carla Harris
Written by Katrina Machetta (W’26); Edited by Ria Saraswat (W’25)
Carla Harris spoke with Professor Adam Grant in Wharton’s Huntsman Hall on Nov. 2. (Photo Credit: Katrina Machetta)
Carla Harris, Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, author, speaker, and business leader, spoke to the Penn community on Nov. 2, offering business insights, advice, and inspiration on how to excel in any field.
Carla Harris spoke with Wharton Professor Adam Grant as they discussed her path to becoming Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley and the lessons she has learned along the way to becoming a trailblazer in her field.
The discussion was held on Penn's campus through Wharton's Author Speaker Series, founded in 2012 by author and organizational psychologist Adam Grant.
The series “seeks to enrich intellectual engagement and encourage dialogue between students, faculty, staff, and alumni outside of the classroom.” The speaker series is free to everyone in the Penn Community.
“Leadership today is a different level of investment than it was when I started,” Harris said. “The two most important words in today’s business ecosystem are community and engagement.”
Prior to her role as Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, Harris was Vice Chairman of Wealth Management from 2013 through 2021 and Chair of the Morgan Stanley Foundation from 2005 to 2014. She also serves on the boards of several community organizations. Harris was also appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women's Business Council.
Carla gives impactful career and leadership advice in speaking engagements all around the country. Her most recent book, "Lead to Win," discusses strategies and tools to be "a powerful, impactful, influential leader in any environment. The first 200 people at the event received a free copy of her book.
“I enjoyed listening to Carla explain the biggest challenges in her career and how she overcame them in a way that was applicable to ordinary people’s lives, giving advice that was as impactful as it was simple,” Luke Castellini, Wharton sophomore and attendee of the event, said.
In her talk, Carla gives numerous pieces of advice on how to bring authenticity and courage to the table in any situation. For her, being able to bring your whole self into a room starts with knowing who you are. She notes that with the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest on the streets of the United States, it is crucial to understand who we are and have become as a society and as individuals.
"We are all multifaceted. Embrace that, and embrace all the facets," Harris said. "Now, the third key to bringing all of you into the room is to relax. Now you can relax and meet people where they are. You are free to feel the energy in the room and decide which facet of you will connect authentically with the person on the other side of the conversation."
Grant asked Harris pertinent questions about the frequent challenges she faces in the business world, including the role of unconscious bias.
“You have to be willing to use your voice. That is why I say call a thing a thing," Harris said. "It is so often in so many organizations across all industries where those feelings come out in a room, and when nobody questions or can debate them, then they live, and they stand, and that is how decisions get made."
Throughout the discussion, Carla referenced several personal experiences as well as the importance of the mentors and advisors that have helped her along the way.
Authors at Wharton and other speaker series connect current undergraduates with influential and inspirational leaders. “Whether it be the stories of triumph and failure, the lessons learned from challenges, or the pondering of what is left for us to discover, there is always at least one nugget of advice to take away from talks like this for lifelong use," Castellini said.