Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet (Hardcover)

~ Carla Harris (Author)
Key Phrases: political maniac, career agenda, first ninety days, The Mentor, Wall Street, Perception Is the Copilot (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite stellar credentials and more than 20 years of Wall Street experience, Harris, managing director of Goldman Sachs, clumsily delivers hackneyed business guidance. Broken down into chapters detailing Carla's Pearls of career advice, the author reneges on her promise to provide practical, strategic tools or specific, play-by-play answers and strategies for business success, depending instead on such standard business-book fare as Be yourself, Know your goals, Brand yourself and Find a mentor. Harris's strength is in her supportive tone; she speaks forcefully about asking for what you want, developing a winner's lens (the ability to always see yourself as a winner and present yourself as such) and the titular expectation of success, all reasonable advice. But handicapped by halting, repetitive writing and the mobbed state of the business self-help shelves, groaning with similar books offering more substantive strategies than this one, this title will likely sink without a trace. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

One of Wall Street’s most powerful and lauded women shares her strategies for long-term success in any career

While climbing the corporate ladder, Carla Harris sought career advice from her mentors and superiors but found some of the counsel too nonspecific. As Carla’s career advanced, she discovered the key survival tools to business success and vowed that when she reached senior management and people came to her for advice she would provide them with specific, play-by-play answers about what they needed to do to fulfill their career potential.

Each chapter in Expect to Win includes Carla’s “pearls”— lessons Harris has acquired during her twenty years of working on Wall Street that can help contribute to career success by aiding readers in navigating the day-to-day complexities and challenges of the workplace.

Carla Harris is a Wall Street veteran. She executed the IPOs for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Redback, as well as the $3.2 billion common stock transaction for Immunex, one of the largest biotech common stock offerings in U.S. history. Expect to Win is a must-read for anyone seeking battle-tested tools to triumph over common career challenges and to achieve maximum success in any field.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Street Press (January 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594630518
• ISBN-13: 978-1594630514
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #253,518 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Advice for the Informed and Uninformed, March 13, 2009

By	Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book provides a simple guide to the world of work.
Most people enter the workplace without the slightest
idea of the formal and informal rule structures pertinent
to each bureaucratic structure or culture. Some simple rules are:

o Be yourself
o Work in the right place at a job you like
o Know your goals and how to pursue them
o Concentrate on competitive strengths (probably the most important)
o Shape the agenda constructively
o Admit to and manage errors
o Learn the job in all of its various manifestations and intricacies
o Seek training when necessary because technology changes
o Engendre correct perceptions
o Learn unspoken rules to fit in and consult with key persons
in the organization

Do all of the above and you can't possibly go wrong.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!!!, January 27, 2009

By	HKTokyo (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This book is a requirement for surviving in this very difficult economic environment, whether one is currently employed or searching for work. The book is authored by a Morgan Stanley veteran who provides very practical career advice by using clear and concise examples. The supportive tone and personal insights delivers accessibility to all of the strategies. Read the book -- not only will you feel uplifted but you will walk away with a bag of invaluable tools to create your own action plan.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wall Street Vet Delivers Winning Strategies!, July 26, 2009

By	John Hinds "www.thefreewatereport.org" (Newark, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Carla Harris provides the framework for any executive on Wall Street or off Wall street to achieve extraordinary success in their respective organizations and/or businesses. Yes, that also includes us entrepreneurs out there! I'm an author/entrepreneur and I found Carla's Pearls to be practical and insightful because successfully navigating a 20+ year career on Wall Street is 'entrepreneurial' in nature.

I was fortunate enough to attend a recent book signing and I had a chance hear her deliver her message. She was candid about some of her challenges and how she was able to overcome them. What also impressed me was her genuine interest in other people and her commitment to giving back.

So, as soon as I got home a began reading the book and finished it in 2 days. There are a lot aspects of this book that I liked. One of the things she talked about was being authentic, expressing who you are. Sometimes, employees try so hard to fit in that they forget who they are and try to be someone else. Big mistake! I made that mistake earlier in my career when I worked in Corporate America. I also liked the fact that she stressed the importance of being strategic yet flexible enough to embrace unexpected opportunities that will get you where you want to go. Another important topic she covered was managing the perception that people have of you in the organization. The only way to find out what that perception of you may be is to get constructive feedback or data, as she puts it. Too many employees are oblivious to how they are perceived and wonder why their careers aren't advancing as planned. And if you're an entrepreneur, it's also critical that you know how your clients and prospects perceive you so you can adapt for the better, if necessary.

One of the other chapters that was valuable was identifying mentors, sponsors and advisers. Carla provided some key distinctions between them and gave practical recommendations on how to cultivate those relationships. I can speak from experience that those strategies work because they have worked for me. I was able to land a celebrity headliner for a fundraiser on behalf of a nonprofit board I serve on earlier in my career because I found out what "the apple of her eye" was, had meaningful conversations with her, and I didn't let the first 'no' discourage me.

What was also fascinating about her story was how she was able to leverage her passion for singing to differentiate herself from the rest of the pack and, ironically, to advance her career. That was compelling proof of how important it is to explore interests outside of work and to talk about it with clients and your team members.

I also liked the advice she gave about respecting EVERYONE in your network. That was refreshing to hear. Sometimes people get caught up in titles and dismiss others who they don't consider to be "A" listers. You never know where your help will come from so don't discount anyone.

The bottom line is that you own your career or business and your willingness to perform well, cultivate relationships, embrace change and handle politics go a long way in determining your success. Because whether your an executive or entrepreneur, where there's people, there's politics.

John Hinds
Author of "What's In Your Water?"