Erica Howard, Senior Associate

Erica has worked with over 25 global organizations and 100 leaders to shape and shift culture, to grow talent, and to lead change – while evolving their personal leadership to elevate impact. Organizations include Alcoa, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Cigna, Dell, Dropbox, Express Scripts, Nike, Quadient and SailPoint Technologies.

Erica has coached leaders at all levels, from those in the C-suite, to first time/emerging leaders seeking promotional readiness, career turnaround and/or developing specific leadership competencies. As a global leader in Talent and Culture, Erica has also worked closely with teams solving challenges such as declining employee engagement, leading unpopular change, influencing in a matrix and building new organizations.

Erica is a skillful guide in helping leaders to champion their strengths and to become (sometimes) painfully aware of default behavior patterns that may emerge when under stress or pressure. She is keenly interested in the peaks and valleys of a client’s leadership story – she believes this is their zone of insight and genius, that they ultimately tap into, in order to perform with more “flow”.

Exploring ways to create more global and social impact, Erica recently created a “Whole Change” leadership model that she co-presented at an international Humanitarian Drone Technology conference in Chambery, France. Working with the Cherie Blaire mentoring organization, Erica shares business building insights with a powerful Johannesburg social entrepreneur focused on capacity building for women and youth. She spends her Saturday evenings on the Crisis Text Line, helping young people to source their unique strengths, in order to feel more empowered, and ready to face any challenge. 

Erica holds an MA in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology where she dedicated her research to creating more inclusive and flexible workplaces, where diversity could thrive. She is credentialed as a Corporate Coach through the Advanced Coaching Program™, Corporate Coach University. Erica is certified in Hogan Leadership Inventories, Hogan Assessment Systems, The PROFILOR®, PDI Ninth House Korn Ferry. StandOut Strengths Assessment, The Marcus Buckingham Company, and the Strategic Workforce Planning Certification, Human Capital Institute. 

In the spirit of experimenting with personal change, Erica moved to Austin, TX from St. Louis, MO in 2011, with her husband, Cary and their 4 cats. An introvert, she loves deep 1x1 conversations, free writing, and creating cool jewelry and abstract painting (more to come on that one).