Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends the 56th NAACP Image Awards astatine the Pasadena Civic Auditorium successful Pasadena, California, U.S. February 22, 2025.
Etienne Laurent | Reuters
Former Vice President Kamala Harris said that during her career, she ne'er took "no" for an reply — and attributed overmuch of her occurrence to this attitude.
Harris, who served arsenic vice president of the United States nether President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025, shared immoderate candid insights astir her aboriginal vocation connected Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast.
When asked what she was similar arsenic a 25-year-old prosecutor, Harris responded: "She was fearless. She didn't perceive 'no it can't beryllium done.'"
Harris recalled the archetypal lawsuit she had arsenic a young prosecutor: it was a Friday evening, and the idiosyncratic who had been arrested was a young pistillate with children astatine home.
"All the courts were shutting down and I went to the courtroom, and I asked the judge: 'Please instrumentality the seat again. She has young children. She can't enactment successful implicit the weekend,'" Harris said.
"And the clerk was like: 'no, he's gone for the day. He's leaving for the day.' And I would not leave, and they called the case."
This persistence has served Harris good passim her career. She became the archetypal Black, South Asian American, and pistillate vice president aft serving arsenic a U.S. legislator and lawyer wide successful California.
"Not proceeding no, that has astir apt been a throughline of my life. I don't remainder casual with the thought that thing is not possible, astatine slightest I don't remainder casual with the thought without trying to amusement that it is imaginable and that's astir apt not changed," she added.
In 2024, Harris replaced Biden arsenic the Democratic statesmanlike nominee aft helium dropped retired of the race, but mislaid to President Donald Trump.
Overcoming imposter syndrome
Harris admitted that she experienced imposter syndrome successful her career, particularly erstwhile she was archetypal elected territory lawyer successful 2004.
"And determination I was, sitting successful the office, and I thought: 'Oh my god, I'm present the elected DA of a large metropolis successful the United States,'" the erstwhile vice president said connected the podcast, adding that she felt a large work successful her role.
However, she enactment a affirmative rotation connected imposter syndrome, saying there's thing incorrect with having a small humility.
"I deliberation determination is simply a batch that is bully with having a definite level of humility, and successful peculiar erstwhile the radical person vested you with large power, to recognize that it's not astir you. I deliberation that is portion and parcel of what we telephone imposter syndrome ... I deliberation often it is due to the fact that they recognize however superior the occupation is connected behalf of others, and I applaud a spot of honorable humility, not feigned humility, " she said.
At different points successful the podcast, Harris recalled walking into meetings and radical wondering wherever her brag was. She said that deprioritizing different people's opinions greatly benefited her.
"When I'm mentoring people, I volition often accidental to them: 'Don't ever bounds yourself based connected different people's constricted quality to spot who you are," she added. "That's their limitation… don't enforce those limitations connected yourself."
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