About 7 Steps Ahead

Described by clients as a "sure-fire experience," Stephen R. Balzac, PhD, is a consultant and professional speaker. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead, LLC, a consulting firm helping businesses get unstuck and transform problems into opportunities.

Steve has over twenty years of experience in the high tech industry and is the former Director of Operations for Silicon Genetics, in Redwood City, CA, where he was responsible for shipping their flagship product. Steve also led the development of numerous serious roleplaying simulations, including a Pandemic Flu simulation for the US National Capitol Region. He is a popular speaker on topics ranging from leadership, motivation, team building, interviewing skills, and sport performance to computer game design. He was a guest lecturer at MIT and WPI. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, Mass High Tech, Lab Manager, Corp! Magazine, Performance & Profts(a publication of the American Management Association), Enterprise Management Quarterly, Talent Management Magazine, The CEO Refresher, The Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, Analog SF/F, Black Belt Magazine, American Fencing and the Worcester Business Journal.

Steve produced several webinars through ExecSense and is a contributing author to Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play. Steve is the author of The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development listed by Amazon.com as one of the top 100 books on organizational behavior. Steve's latest book isOrganizational Psychology for Managers and he is the creator of the Leadership Blueprint Program. Steve is a frequent radio guest and is quoted in a variety of publications including the New York Times, Boston Business Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and IndustryWeek.

"Steve Balzac is the 21st century's Tom Peters!"

Stephen R Guendert, Ph.D., CMG Director of Publications

Steve serves on the board of the Society of Professional Consultants (SPC), and is a former board member of the New England Society for Applied Psychology. No stranger to the challenges of achieving peak performance under competitive and stressful conditions, he is a fifth degree black belt in jujitsu and is a former nationally ranked competitive fencer. He has published numerous articles on the application of sport psychology techniques to business.

Building effective development organizations, improving team morale, focus, and enthusiasm, developing effective communications between team members, reducing employee turnover, helping businesses identify and attain strategic targets, and applying sport psychology techniques to business have been some of his most successful projects.

Steve holds a doctorate in psychology and has bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science and engineering from MIT. His research focused on the use of games to develop real-world leadership skills. He is an adjunct professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Steve appears in Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story, and has the distinction of being the only guest personally panned by a New York Times movie critic.