Howard's Gift: Uncommon Wisdom to Inspire Your Life's Work
Written by Eric Sinoway and Merrill Meadow
Narrated by William Dufris
4/5
()
About this audiobook
"This work offers wonderful wisdom for navigating the inflection points in our lives." - Mehmet Oz, MD
An iconic teacher. A warm friend. A generous mentor.
For more than 40 years, Howard Stevenson has been a towering figure at Harvard Business School: the man who literally defined entrepreneurship and taught thousands of the world's most successful professionals.
Now - spurred by Stevenson's heart-stopping brush with death - his student, colleague, and dear friend Eric Sinoway shares the man's wisdom and inspiration. Through warm and engaging conversations, we hear Howard's timeless and practical lessons on pursuing success and fulfillment, beginning with:
- Create a vision of your own legacy through a process called "business planning for life."
- Be entrepreneurial in driving your career ahead (even if you're not an entrepreneur).
- Exploit the inflection points in your life - whether "friend," "foe," or "silent."
- Cut risk in tough career and life decisions by shining the "light of predictability" on them.
- Plan for the ripples, not just the splash from your actions and choices.
Listening to Howard's Gift is like having a wise, caring friend sit down and say, "Let's figure all this out together."
"This book is truly a gift for all those seeking fulfilling careers." - Wendy Kopp, Founder & CEO, Teach For America
Eric Sinoway
ERIC SINOWAY is an entrepreneur and seasoned executive with experience in for-profit, academic, and non-profit organizations. He is the cofounder and president of Axcess Worldwide, a New York-based partnership development company that creates inspired ideas and connects extraordinary brands and people. Axcess works with companies ranging from Rolls Royce and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts to Target and Delta Air Lines. Eric lives in New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Related authors
Related to Howard's Gift
Related audiobooks
The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maxims for Thinking Analytically: The Wisdom of Legendary Harvard Professor Richard Zeckhauser Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead...and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTrue North: Leading Authentically in Today's Workplace, Emerging Leaders Edition, 3rd Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Doing: How Superachievers Do What They Do and How They Do It So Well Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSmart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rare Breed: A Guide to Success for the Defiant, Dangerous, and Different Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Taking Smart Risks: How Sharp Leaders Win When Stakes are High Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue EXCELLENCE Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hidden Truths: What Leaders Need to Hear but are Rarely Told Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeading Matters: Lessons from My Journey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Great Company: How to Spark Peak Performance By Creating an Emotionally Connected Workplace Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFail Fast, Fail Often: How Losing Can Help You Win Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clutch: Why Some People Excel Under Pressure and Others Don't Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Barbarians at the Gate Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of the Sale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master of None: How a Jack-of-All-Trades Can Still Reach the Top Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Move to the Edge, Declare it Center: Practices and Processes for Creatively Solving Complex Problems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSpringboard: Launching Your Personal Search for Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What It Takes: Seven Secrets of Success from the World's Greatest Professional Firms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Think Big, Act Small: How Americas Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lifecycle Investing: A New, Safe, and Audacious Way to Improve the Performance of Your Retirement Portfolio Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Trader Joe: How I Did Business My Way and Still Beat the Big Guys Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Business Biographies For You
Elon Musk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Power of Conflict: Speak Your Mind and Get the Results You Want Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Founder: The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Claim Your Confidence: Unlock Your Superpower and Create the Life You Want Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Master of None: How a Jack-of-All-Trades Can Still Reach the Top Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Walk Through Fire: A memoir of love, loss, and triumph Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sam Walton: Made in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost It All Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fish that Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lego Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beating the Street: How to Use What You Already Know to Make Money in the Market Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One Up On Wall Street: How To Use What You Already Know To Make Money In The Market Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rocky Mountain High: A Tale of Boom and Bust in the New Wild West Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bully Market: My Story of Money and Misogyny at Goldman Sachs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Secret History of Brands: The Dark and Twisted Beginnings of the Brand Names We Know and Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unstoppable Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Howard's Gift
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow! What a gem. The ST in Baupost is the real deal
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The shelf of management guru books is sagging and overburdened with repetitive dross, but room should definitely be made for Howard's Gift, a definite cut above. It's the informally collected thoughts of a Harvard Business School professor who is well respected, well loved, and who walks the walk as well as talking the talk. The book is structured as a series of life lessons, usually beginning with a quote from Howard, and ending with a profile of a former student or successful executive who exhibits that point. As such, it is filled with pithy quotables and the only way to review it is to highlight some of them that appeal most.-From his wealth of experience, he tells us that focusing on our own weaknesses is a losing proposition - focus on what works. That will get you farther faster, and be much more satisfying to you and your game plan (if you can afford one).-Similarly, there's the Hard Work Fallacy - that "determined effort will always overcome an enduring shortcoming". It's what all parents instill in their children. And it's wrong. -And watch out for the "Magnifiers: folks who shoot arrows at a blank target then draw a bull's eye around the spots they hit". Companies are filled with them. And Howard nails them.Howard Stevenson lives in a parallel universe of super bright Harvard students who are pretty much all destined to become captains of industry and multimillionaires. So his theses are not tested on a control group of mere mortals. Nonetheless, there are clear lessons for all to be gleaned from passages throughout the book.I was particularly enamored of the section on corporate culture and how to evaluate it. There are five questions to answer, and the results should determine how you might or might not fit in, thus saving long months or years of stress and recriminations as you try to survive in the swamp. Unfortunately, few of us get to evaluate corporate cultures from the outside; we consider ourselves massively lucky to be offered a job at all. When we interview, it's with a 26 year old HR manager who has no analysis of culture to share, and the next level is a line director on his/her best behavior. No interviewer is going to admit that the owner is a megalomaniac and that the place makes Glengarry Glen Ross look like Pleasantville. Asking these quite intrusive questions about culture is a surefire trip off the short list.But he redeems himself with his simple analogy of management styles: "A-level managers hire A-level staff and B-level managers hire C-level staff. C-level managers force their teams to be C-level." So extraordinarily true and to the point. Howard is nothing if not perceptive and concise. -He spends a good deal of time on how companies evaluate their most important assets: "When an organization evaluates and rewards people based primarily on results, not performance, they're reducing predictability and transparency. That isn't a good thing....that's a formula for failure." Would that America's results fetishists could read and understand that sentence alone!-Similarly the advice on stepping back to gain more experience rings a bit hollow, as everywhere you turn for such experience rejects you for being overqualified.Ageism is another evil that goes untreated, as Howard and Eric's contacts all accede to the top of the heap and can do anything they want anywhere they want, whether they're 35 or 70. Not so for us mortals.So as with anything else, you pick the examples can work with. The bottom line, which recurs throughout is this: "We are happiest when we live life forward and unimpeded by regret." If you have the luck to be able to live that way, life will be most satisfying. Take it from Howard, as thousands of students have. He's right.