When Eric C. Sinoway heard that his friend and colleague Howard Stevenson had suffered an unattended cardiac arrest, he writes that he felt “a punch to the gut.” But Sinoway, a businessman and now a first-time author, also felt inspired to share the wisdom he had learned over the years from Stevenson, who recovered from the heart attack. The resulting book, “Howard’s Gift,” details Stevenson’s philosophy for satisfaction in life and career through discussions between mentor and mentee.

A leader in the field of entrepreneurship, professor, author, and holder of many key positions at Harvard Business School, Stevenson believes failures can be seen as “inflection points” — changes in one’s life that can be leveraged in a positive way. That point of view is bolstered throughout “Howard’s Gift” by conversations Sinoway has with other friends and well-known individuals, including broadcaster Soledad O’Brien and Nancy Brinker, a former US ambassador and the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Stevenson, Sinoway, and the book’s coauthor, Merrill Meadow, took time between speaking events to talk with the Globe.