YOUR BOOK HAS
CREATED RIPPLES
THROUGHOUT MY COMPANY
AND CHANGED MY LIFE
JEFFREY JACKSON | CHIEF COUNSEL | STATE FARM INSURANCE
A GUIDE FOR
INDIVIDUALS
A PLAYBOOK FOR
ORGANIZATIONS
Howard’s Gift is a collection of lessons that have been adopted by organizations and embraced by individuals.
It is a timeless resource for the C-suite to the new professional — from the graduating student to the mid-career inflection point.
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
A GUIDE TO BUILD ORGANIZATIONS, TRANSFORM CULTURE, & INSPIRE PERFORMANCE
Some of the many organizations that have benefited from Howard’s Gift
A sample of the content featured in Howard’s Gift that has enabled organizations to reimagine themselves, adopt entrepreneurial thinking, and become employers of choice.
DON’T REWARD RESULTS
RESULTS = PERFORMANCE + LUCK
PERFORMANCE = SKILL + EFFORT
Everyone can control skill and effort. One can’t account for luck - either good or bad. The accepted way of rewarding people is based on their results. But, if you think deeply about it, often one’s performance is only part of an outcome: the situation itself - with the wind blowing at one’s back or pushing them backwards - is the “X” factor in an outcome.
By accounting for luck, one can identify and reward what is actually controllable, which is a persona’s performance.
VALUE WHAT’S DIFFICULT, NOT WHAT’S LARGE
The more responsibility, the more you get paid. It’s the age-old equation to define compensation. But should it be?
Someone with a large team at a thriving organization is often running a “well-oiled machine.” Contrast this with someone in a similar role at a start up or a leaner organization with far fewer resources or talent.
What actually requires more skill and effort: something that happens to be large — or accomplishing something that is truly hard with fewer resources?
CULTURAL ZOMBIES, VAMPIRES, HYPOS, STARS
Every organization of every type entails culture.
Organizations are living, breathing, evolving collections of people. Being explicit about what one values, how it operates, and the intangible “feel” of being a part of it is a critical leadership decision – one more often overlooked than not. Culture, in many ways, trumps strategy. Without the right one, you’re cooked.
Cultural vampires threaten healthy cultures. Stars reinforce positive ones. Do you know the difference?
ARE YOU ADDRESSING
A PROBLEM
OR DISTRACTED BY
A SYMPTOM?
HOWARD STEVENSON & ERIC SINOWAY
FOR INDIVIDUALS
A ROADMAP TO CREATE A BUSINESS PLAN FOR YOUR PERSONAL LIFE’S WORK
Lessons from Howard’s Gift have helped individuals chart a career and life of satisfaction and success. Be intentional about your life’s work.
START AT THE END
Be Intentional.
Invest time up front to develop an aspirational picture of your future that will serve as a guide for the decisions you make throughout your career and life. Time invested up-front pays dividends over the long journey that is one’s life and career.
Surround yourself with an IBOD - an individual board of directors - to help you do so.
LEARN TO JUGGLE, NOT TO BALANCE
Balancing is static.
Life and careers almost never stand still. Most of us are juggling–careers, families, friends, hobbies–most of the time. The things we’re trying not to drop? What is the metaphorical egg, tennis ball, sharp knife, bowling ball, or crystal vase?
The most important object is the one that is falling. Give it the attention it necessitates.
STRIVE FOR A DECENT AVERAGE GRADE OVER TIME
School is a fake construct where one might earn “straight A’s” in every subject.
You can’t maximize all the dimensions of life at the same time. Identify your seven selves - family, social, spiritual, physical, material, avocational, and career - and intentionally decide where you need or want to excel at any one particular moment.
Strive for a “decent” average grade over time.
UNCOMMON WISDOM TO INSPIRE YOUR LIFE’S WORK
Howard’s Gift
By Eric Sinoway with Merrill Meadow
