95 Inspiring Carla Harris Quotes to Motivate and Inspire You

Carla Ann Harris, born in 1962 in Texas, grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, where she began singing in choirs.

She later attended Harvard University, graduating with an economics degree and an M.A. in business administration.

At Harvard, she sang with the prestigious Radcliffe Chorale Society and her band, Rhythm Company.

In 1987, Carla joined Morgan Stanley as an investment banker, rising to become a Managing Director in Global Capital Markets.

Carla Harris Quotes

Her significant achievements include overseeing major public offerings. Recognized for her excellence, she has received numerous accolades, including being listed among the top black executives by various magazines.

Besides her banking career, Carla is a gospel singer, having performed at Carnegie Hall and released two albums, with the proceeds from her second album benefiting high schools.

Here are some of the top quotes by Carla Harris.


Inspiring Carla Harris Quotes

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Celebrate the mistakes. ~ Carla Harris.

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Remember, being valued and being rewarded are two different things. ~ Carla Harris.

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The price of inaction is greater than the cost of making a mistake. ~ Carla Harris.

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Diversity takes intentionality, accountability, and consistency. ~ Carla Harris.

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If you are not clear about what success looks like, it creates a lot of inefficiency. ~ Carla Harris.

When you bring your authentic self to the table, it will motivate those you are working with to bring their authentic self to the table. ~ Carla Harris.

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All of my pearls were acquired by making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Choose to learn and grow from them. ~ Carla Harris.

Authenticity: Your authenticity is at the heart of your power and at the heart of your powerful, impactful leadership. ~ Carla Harris.

If people think there will be retribution of a bad idea, they will not give you an out-of-the-box ideas. ~ Carla Harris.

What’s the worst that can happen? If you take a risk and it doesn’t work out, failure always brings you a gift, and that gift is experience. ~ Carla Harris.

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Be authentic. There is no time or place to be complacent anymore. ~ Carla Harris.

You must define what success looks like. If you aren’t clear about what success looks like, you will create a tremendous amount of frustration. ~ Carla Harris.

One of the key components of your mistake recovery strategy is to just stop, learn, get rid of the emotion and the feeling of shame and burden, and move on. ~ Carla Harris.

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If it doesn’t work this time, it informs your next decision. ~ Carla Harris.

Motivational Carla Harris Quotes

I demonstrated that I was listening – and everybody values being heard. ~ Carla Harris.

You have to keep consistency if you want to see the outcomes. ~ Carla Harris.

Perception is the copilot to reality. How people see you will directly impact how they deal with you, so think about through which lenses people are looking at you. ~ Carla Harris.

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Information is a commodity. The differentiator is are you willing to take risks. ~ Carla Harris.

Unfortunately, you won’t always get the ‘attaboy’ or ‘attagirl’ that you deserve; you need to put yourself in a position where you do not have to have it in order to stay motivated. ~ Carla Harris.

Build trust. This happens when you deliver results over and over again. Think of four things you can do for your client before you ask for anything. ~ Carla Harris.

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Innovation is the dominant competitive parameter around all markets. ~ Carla Harris.

There isn’t one single industry where innovation isn’t the competitive advantage. ~ Carla Harris.

I bring all the Carlas to the table because I don’t know which Carla will be the one to connect and own the relationship. ~ Carla Harris.

One of the laws of the professional jungle is that every dog has their day. Everyone gets a shot at the top and at some point someone else gets their turn. ~ Carla Harris.

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If all roads lead back to you, your success will be capped. ~ Carla Harris.

Inspirational Carla Harris Quotes

When you bring new people into your organization, you need to over-index to ensure their inclusion. ~ Carla Harris.

Leverage – Powerful, impactful leaders know there is no monopoly on intelligence. ~ Carla Harris.

If you are an influential, impactful leader, you must be clear about what success looks like. ~ Carla Harris.

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Everybody values being heard. ~ Carla Harris.

People who repeatedly find career success learn to broaden their perspective and understand that there are always several roads to getting where you want to go. ~ Carla Harris.

No one else can be you. ~ Carla Harris.

Your success depends upon your ability to build successful relationships. ~ Carla Harris.

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Part of your divine decision as a leader is to make a decision. ~ Carla Harris.

Believe, believe, and believe… in yourself! Henry Ford famously said, ‘If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.’ Belief in yourself carries more weight in how others see you than almost anything else. So shine on! ~ Carla Harris.

Powerful Carla Harris Quotes

Transformative leaders are tenacious, thoughtful, transcendent, and transparent. ~ Carla Harris.

When people know what they are playing for, they naturally want to outperform what they are playing for. ~ Carla Harris.

Teach innovation. By teaching people to fail, it will enhance innovation. Celebrate failures and learn from them. ~ Carla Harris.

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Every experience you have will give you a blessing or a lesson. ~ Carla Harris.

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Play big; never limit yourself. ~ Carla Harris.

You need a lot of ideas in the room and you need a lot of perspectives in the room. Perspectives are born from experiences. Experiences are born from a lot of different people in the room. ~ Carla Harris.

Your authenticity is your distinct competitive advantage. ~ Carla Harris.

Be a good listener. Listening is more than the act of not speaking. Don’t just hear what someone is saying… listen. Active listening promotes trust and respect, helps to resolve problems, and promotes a better understanding of people. Listeners make the best leaders. ~ Carla Harris.

Courage: It takes courage to be a powerful, influential leader. ~ Carla Harris.

Leadership is not just about what you say, you must also listen to others and be prepared to step up to be helpful in innovative ways. ~ Carla Harris.

The 50/50 rule means that when people meet you for the first time, before you ever speak, there is a 50/50 chance that they think you are smart and a 50/50 chance that they’ll think you are stupid. These perceptions are, at least in part, created and destroyed by how you express yourself verbally, how you use your voice. ~ Carla Harris.

I am learned a few things about not only surviving but thriving. ~ Carla Harris.

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The way you differentiate yourself is by taking risks. ~ Carla Harris.

Relationships are the most valuable currency you can have in any environment. ~ Carla Harris.

The key of building relationships is just as important as doing good work. ~ Carla Harris.

You won this job because you were the best for the job. You are smart, quick to learn, and can quickly acquire any skill you might be lacking. ~ Carla Harris.

Best Carla Harris Quotes

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How can you bring your authentic self to the table if you don’t know who you are? ~ Carla Harris.

Create clarity. People are motivated to outperform if they have a clear goal. Even if you cannot determine what the goal will be six months from now, set a clear one for each day. ~ Carla Harris.

I learned that when you can turn a presentation into a conversation, you have won the battle of converting a client; and second, I learned that the real Carla was my best competitive weapon and my key personal advantage. ~ Carla Harris.

If you bring your authentic self to the table, people will trust you. Most people are not confident in their own skin. So if you are authentic and honest, people will gravitate toward you. ~ Carla Harris.

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I believe in, ‘You don’t ask, you don’t get.’ ~ Carla Harris.

It is a competitive disadvantage if you are not authentic. Your authenticity is at the heart of your power. ~ Carla Harris.

Insecure people are extremely difficult to work for because they are preoccupied with being found out. ~ Carla Harris.

You can’t be what I call selectively motivated, where you can only work hard and smart when things are going well. ~ Carla Harris.

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You must define what success looks like. ~ Carla Harris.

I was choosing to walk in the front door of Morgan Stanley every day. I didn’t have to. I could make a different choice. I had to stop throwing away my power by focusing on what was wrong and focus on ways, to use a baseball term, ‘to knock the cover off the ball.’ ~ Carla Harris.

He gives it. I get It. I give it away. They give the credit back to Him. ~ Carla Harris.

You can’t be what I call selectively-motivated, where you can only work hard and smart when things are going well. ~ Carla Harris.

Famous Carla Harris Quotes

There’s only one person responsible for your career, and that’s you. ~ Carla Harris.

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Amplify your impact as a leader by raising others up. ~ Carla Harris.

No woman or person of color ever wants you to lower the bar because that devalues their contribution. ~ Carla Harris.

Do not give away your power. ~ Carla Harris.

I have been honored and humbled by all of my accomplishments. ~ Carla Harris.

Leadership is a journey from execution to empowerment. A leader’s job is to create an environment where people want to contribute. ~ Carla Harris.

Your job as a leader is to create other leaders. ~ Carla Harris.

Most people are motivated by money and power, or public recognition, or platforms and promotions. ~ Carla Harris.

You have to have a sense of taking risks. It takes courage to be a powerful influential, impactful leader. ~ Carla Harris.

Risk taker – leaders must be comfortable taking risks. ~ Carla Harris.

Top Carla Harris Quotes

Your human talent is your most important talent. ~ Carla Harris.

The thing that makes a leader stand out is courage. This is what holds all these words together. ~ Carla Harris.

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To think creatively, a mistake is almost as valuable as a success. ~ Carla Harris.

Innovation cannot exist while people are afraid to fail. Fear of failure prevents people from trying new things, and you cannot innovate without some failed experiments. ~ Carla Harris.

Fear has no place in your success equation. ~ Carla Harris.

Set out the goals that you want to achieve and set out your own timelines that would exist if this framework wasn’t in place. Do not spend time on the thing that you cannot see and you cannot predict. ~ Carla Harris.

As people of faith, you know you should never be besieged by fear. ~ Carla Harris.

We are all multi-faceted. ~ Carla Harris.

All important decisions made about your career are made behind close doors when you are not in the room. ~ Carla Harris.

Popular Carla Harris Quotes

Powerful leaders are inclusive leaders. ~ Carla Harris.

Engagement: You must be engaged with your people. ~ Carla Harris.

Where God guides He provides. If He brought you to it, He’ll see you through it. ~ Carla Harris.

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Trust is at the heart of any successful relationship. ~ Carla Harris.

Doing a good job is not enough. You must also invest in relationships – with those above and below you. ~ Carla Harris.

There is no more powerful feeling than empowering someone else. ~ Carla Harris.

If you want to maximize your success, you must use everything in your tool chest: your academic background, experiential learning and your network. ~ Carla Harris.

Spend a lot of time with yourself and get to know yourself well! If you don’t know who you are, you will easily get distracted. ~ Carla Harris.


So these were the 95 top quotes about Carla Harris.

If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on John Stamos quotes and Bill Bowerman quotes.


Short Biography of Carla Harris

Carla Ann Harris, born in Texas in 1962, grew up in Florida and showed an early talent in singing.

She excelled academically, graduating from Harvard with degrees in economics and business.

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Starting her career at Morgan Stanley in 1987, Harris rose to become a Managing Director, playing a key role in significant financial deals.

Full Name Carla Harris
Occupation(s) Investment Executive, Investment Banker
Born October 28, 1962
Birth Location Port Arthur, Texas
Favorite Color Black
Favorite Time of Year Christmas, Summer
Favorite Food Hamburgers

Recognized as a powerful executive, she’s also made her mark as a gospel singer, with performances at Carnegie Hall and albums that support educational causes.


Quick Facts about Carla Harris

  • Chose Economics as a major to prove doubters wrong.
  • Used setbacks, like not getting a promotion, as motivation.
  • Always asked what could be learned from failures.
  • Believes current education system doesn’t teach resilience.
  • Thinks “quitters never win and winners never quit.”
  • Dealt with prejudice but used it as a teaching moment.
  • Mentors, advisors and sponsors are key to career success.
  • Emphasizes the importance of being authentic at work.
  • Sits on eight boards to “pay it forward” for others.
  • Her husband sees her as driven and caring.
  • Appointed by President Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council.
  • Recognized in Fortune Magazine’s list of powerful executives.
  • Started at Morgan Stanley in Mergers & Acquisitions in 1987.
  • Holds multiple honorary doctorates for her contributions.
  • Chairs the Morgan Stanley Foundation board.
  • Passionate about children’s education and healthcare.
  • Released three gospel CDs and authored a book.
  • Encourages women to find mentors and sponsors outside their immediate circles.
  • Advocates for building motivated teams through clear goals and openness.
  • Believes in the power of being oneself to enhance work environment.

Top Questions about Carla Harris

Q: What role does Carla Harris currently hold at Morgan Stanley?

A: Carla Harris is a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley.

Q: What significant position did Carla Harris hold under President Barack Obama’s administration?

A: Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council in August 2013.

Q: Can you name a few industries Carla Harris has extensive experience in?

A: Carla has extensive experience in technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors.

Q: What are some of the high-profile initial public offerings Carla Harris has executed?

A: Carla executed IPOs for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, Delphi Automotive’s sub-IPO for General Motors, and a significant common stock transaction for Immunex Corporation.

Q: Which prestigious lists has Carla Harris been named to for her influence and power in business?

A: She’s been named to Fortune Magazine’s list of “The 50 Most Powerful Black Executives in Corporate America,” U. S. Bankers Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance, Black Enterprise’s Top 75 Most Powerful Women in Business, and Essence Magazine’s list of “The 50 Women Who are Shaping the World,” among others.

Q: What educational background does Carla Harris have?

A: Carla received an MBA with Second Year Honors from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Harvard University, Magna Cum Laude.

Q: How is Carla Harris involved in her community?

A: Carla is involved through her past role as Chair of the Morgan Stanley Foundation board, sitting on boards like Sponsors for Educational Opportunity and The Sesame Workshop, and her active membership in her church’s gospel groups.

Q: What honors and awards has Carla Harris received for her contributions and achievements?

A: Carla has received honorary doctorates from multiple institutions, the Bert King Award from the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, the Pierre Toussaint Medallion, and the Women of Power Award from the National Urban League, among others.

Q: Apart from her corporate achievements, what other talents does Carla Harris possess?

A: Carla is also a singer, having sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theatre, and she has released four gospel CDs.

Q: What books has Carla Harris authored, and what are their themes?

A: Carla has authored “Strategize to Win” (2014), “Expect to Win” (2009), and “Lead To Win” (2022), focusing on strategies for success in business and leadership.

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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar

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