Carla Harris grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and attended Catholic schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. She went to Harvard University, which exposed her to people from many different backgrounds. During her sophomore year, she had a summer Wall Street internship that made her realize businesspeople call the shots, not lawyers. After graduating, she went to Harvard Business School to get her MBA. When she started on Wall Street in 1987, being a board director wasn’t on her mind; she aspired to be a successful investment banker.
Over time pitching deals to boards, she realized directors held the real power to make shareholder decisions. That inspired her interest in someday serving on a board herself. Her first board was Walmart. Her capital markets experience was very attractive to them, as was her expertise as a strategist and marketer. Before joining Walmart’s board, she spent years getting nonprofit board experience.
She believes every board needs diversity to get the best ideas and perspectives. Using your voice to ask questions and raise issues keeps diversity front and center. Term limits and committee rotations also help bring in fresh views.
She wants aspiring directors to know board service is about adding value for shareholders and employees. Deep domain knowledge isn’t required if you have broader business expertise to contribute. Be your authentic self and focus on doing a great job representing stakeholders. Boards need people with talent and experience, even if they never made it to the C-suite. There are opportunities today that didn’t exist before. Board service has real power to influence strategy and direction.
