Hey everyone, it's Adam Graham. Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the Science

of What Makes Us Take. I'm an organizational psychologist and I'm taking you inside the

minds of fascinating people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. Today's

guest is Carla Harris, an unusually dynamic leader and provocative thinker. She's been

vice chair of Wealth at Morgan Stanley, been named one of the most powerful black executives

in America and was appointed to chair the National Women's Business Council by President

Obama. On tour for her new book Lead to Win, Carla came to the Authors at Wharton

Series to talk about mentorship, careers, and advocating for ourselves. And you are in

for a treat.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Carla Harris to Authors at Wharton. Thank you. So take us back

to that stage. What was it like when you were a business school student? What were your

goals, fears, dreams, hopes?

By then I had figured out that I really wanted to be an investment banker. The summer after

my sophomore year in college, I was exposed to my very first time to Wall Street through

the SEO program. We still exist today, sponsored for educational opportunity. And I didn't

know anything about Wall Street, but I am negatively motivated. So when you tell me I can't

do something, I'm all over it like a bad smell. And everybody said, Wall Street is so difficult.

And I have to tell you, Adam, I was exhilarated by it, one because I had never done it before,

two because I realized that it wasn't that difficult. You needed some analytical skills

and some quantitative skills. But the thing that pushed me over the edge is that I did not

see a lot of people who looked like me. I couldn't figure out why. And that made it even

more interesting to pursue. The reason I wanted to be a lawyer was because I thought I could

...