That was just one pearl of wisdom that Harris, a managing director with Morgan Stanley, shared with her audience Friday during the Friends of Finance luncheon. Her personal presentation - she shared her love for singing and football - veered away from numbers and data to focus on what she's gleaned from her life as a mega banker as well as excerpts from her book, "Expect to Win: Proven Strategies for Success from a Wall Street Vet."

You can train people to think about you in a way that you want them to, Harris said. She advises picking three adjectives that are valued within your organization and then behave consistently to make others believe that you embody those qualities.

"It is imperative that you understand the adjectives associated for success for the seat you're in or the seat you want to sit in," she said.

Pick adjectives that people will associate with your name, she said, when you're not in the room - times when decisions are being made about compensation, promotions and new assignments, for instance.

At one point in her career, Harris had someone tell her she was smart and worked hard but wasn't tough enough for the business. So, for the next 90 days, she decided to talk, walk and do what she could to come across as "tough" until she had others believing it.

Harris also spoke about the importance of relationships and finding an adviser, mentor and sponsor.

An adviser is someone you can ask discreet questions of, and a mentor is someone you can tell "the good, the bad and ugly" to - someone you trust, knows you well and has your best interest at heart, she said. This person doesn't have to be a co-worker but must understand the context in which you work.

"You can survive a long time in your career without a mentor, but you will not ascend without a sponsor," Harris said.

A sponsor is someone within the organization who behind closed doors will argue passionately for you and explain why you should get the next promotion or bonus, she added.

In a question-and-answer segment after her presentation, Harris noted that the Federal Reserve's announcement Thursday of a third round of quantitative easing, or QE3, will not cause inflationary pressures if the country's growth engine revs up.

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Wall Street pro offers advice for personal success at Friends of Finance