Client Benefits

Athletes have coaches, and so do athletic teams. No top athlete goes into competition without a coach, and no team makes it to the Olympics without one. At what level are you playing?

We work with your organization, helping the different groups in your company communicate more effectively, minimize wasted effort, and maximize your resources. Our typical client benefits include:

Organizational Consulting

  • Enable leaders to motivate and inspire others
  • Identify and attain strategic targets
  • Build high quality products and get them out the door quickly
  • Increase revenue and decrease client attrition
  • Make your technology more productive
  • Encourage productive conflict
  • Enable managers to listen and act
  • Develop a results driven mindset
  • Empower employees as business owners
  • Increase team focus, morale, and energy
  • Increase team effectiveness
  • Create opportunities for out of the box thinking
  • Understand and act on employee concerns
  • Increase information transfer and decrease time spent in meetings

In the summer of 2006, I had the pleasure of working with Steve on an intense disaster simulation in Washington,DC. The simulation was focused on pandemic flu and its impact on society. Hosted at George Washington University, participants had the opportunity to interact not only with those in the room but also those who were remote and, in some cases, mobile. This multimodal interaction had not been experienced by many in the room but the after action reports highlighted the visceral feel of the "game" and its impressive execution.

Steve's prowess as a gamemaster was on full display as he managed over 200 players in a cohesive manner. He maintained interest and involvement throughout the simulation with members of governmental agencies such as FEMA, DHS and NOAA and community leaders like the American Red Cross. Some of these folks can be difficult because of their familiarity with traditional "games." This cleverly crafted scenario left little room for their tried and true methods but even their objections worked into the game scenario.

Game mechanics were also well thought out and planned. People in the room were tied to their remote colleagues through messaging and on screen reporting on PDAs and PCs. There were daily newspapers and online journalists. Triggers for new events were natural extensions of the circumstances rather than forced entries and announcements.

For me it was an intense experience and one I will not soon forget. Being in a room full of community and religious leaders side by side with heads of government agencies was interesting enough. Watching them participate in a scenario which forced them into "real life" decisions with the benefit of witnessing the impact of those decisions was life altering.

Ronald Espinosa, President Duane David Associates


Individual Coaching

  • Increase productivity
  • Improve leadership skills
  • Develop confidence and self-esteem
  • Discover your true passions
  • Focus on the tasks that really matter
  • Reduce stress
  • Learn new skills and absorb complex information more easily
  • Have more time for exercise, family and personal interests

"Steve is a master at what he does. I hired him to help me increase productivity. I sell auto, home, and life insurance in MA and it's easy to fall behind. Instead of trying to fit me into a particular mold or force me to adapt a certain ideology - he took the time to find out exactly what makes me tick. He used that information to help me understand precisely what it was that had been holding me back. I have since increased my close ratio from 42% to 60% and, at the end of the day, I leave the office with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction for what I do. I have recommended Steve's services to other sales reps here in my office and to companies that I work with."

Jeremy Paradis, Liberty Mutual Insurance

    Speaking

    • Increase creativity and innovation
    • Encourage productive debate
    • Improve customer retention
    • Enable people to work together on challenging goals
    • Manage organizational change

    Talks

  • Emotion-Based Leadership: Using Employee Engagement to Drive Profits
  • It's a Marathon: Seven Techniques for Increasing Motivation
  • Organizational Culture and Innovation: A Two-Edged Sword
  • Why Teams Fail
  • Making Change Work
  • Zen and the Art of Leadership: Succeeding by Knowing When, And How, to Not Care
  • The Bilingual Advantage: Improving Performance By Speaking Manager And Engineer
  • Stalking the Elusive Leader: Using Emotions to Recruit Top Talent
  • Relaxation to Rev Up and Rev Down
  • Cartesian Splits and Chinese Splits: The Mental Skills To Succeed in Sport and Business

    • "I really enjoyed hearing you talk about organizational conflict as it affects the solo consultant. I have already used the insights gained from hearing you within my own client relationships. Thank you!"

    Kay Corry Aubrey, Usability Resources Inc.

    What We Do

    At 7 Steps Ahead, we offer a variety of services to help you meet your needs and accomplish your corporate and personal goals. Our most frequently requested services include: