Testimonials
Making Change Work at CMG '12 in Las Vegas
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.
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
I truly enjoyed Steve's webinar on ERE! His past accomplishments, and current up to date remarkable content, are truly amazing... His process proves that Tranparency and Authenticity (actually caring) are paramount to be a successful organization in this highly competitive economy! (Two thumbs up!)
Brian Kevin Johnston,
CEO,
Johnston Search, Inc.
"Long Ago and Far Away" was a terrific training experience, and served as a projective test for me. As a consulting psychologist, it revealed very clearly important professional development directions in the social-political realm. Steve was an insightful trainer, and his words were well-timed and apt.
Diana Dill, Ed.D.
Working Together Coaching and Consulting
Steve Balzac is without question a guru in his field. His newsletters enlighten readers on human behavior in the business world. His consulting can turn employee dilemmas into an increase in productivity, motivation, and stability.
Steve, thank you for your assistance with the greatest asset we have, our employees.
John P. Kovacs
Executive Vice President/ General Manager
Boyd Coatings Research
51 Parmenter Road
Hudson, MA 01749-3213
www.boydcoatings.com
Stephen
Really enjoyed your presentation [on the Bilingual Advantage] at CMG09. For once, it's great to hear someone highlight the differences between managers and engineers but who is also able to show people how to bridge the gap. The hints and tips for bi lingual communication were simple and effective. Like any good communicator, your talk made everyone smile as they saw parts of them themselves in the examples. Sometimes, as a whole section noticed themselves, you were rewarded with a laugh or two.
Most of what you said was obvious, but only when you actually heard someone say the words. There were a couple of times when I listened and thought, "well of course that makes sense it's obvious isn't it?" only to wonder why I never noticed it before. It takes a skilled communicator to get that kind of reaction.
If I could add an extra area to include, perhaps we need to be trilingual, as where in work in finance we have managers and engineers but we also have to add the business areas into the equation which adds another "language" to be learned: business speak.
Once again, many thanks for an entertaining and informative presentation that made me and many others think about how we will work with other areas when we return to the office.
Best regards,
Malcolm
Malcolm Gunn
Cluster Focused Manager (Emerging Markets and Western Europe) Availability and Capacity Management Production Services GRCB Technology
I'm writing to thank you for your work with IMPACT Bay Area. Organizational change is a big challenge for any organization, and it's doubly hard for a small, tightly knit group like the instructors at IMPACT to adapt to a new Executive Director...
... Many organizations do not survive the kind of transition that we went through, and it is a testament to your abilities and insights that we are still here and still able to offer classes that change the lives of the women who take them.
Carolyn Wales
Board Chair, IMPACT Bay Area
The Davidson Institute for Talent Development praises Stephen Balzac for his week-long, online seminar "Cartesian Splits and Chinese Splits: Gifted Kids and Sports" he facilitated for parents whose children are Davidson Young Scholars, a national program offering free support services for profoundly gifted young people under 18. We received a great deal of positive feedback from participating parents who found Steve to be insightful and his presentation comprehensive. Many parents even commented both during and after the seminar about how they applied Steve's techniques and saw immediate results! Stephen Balzac is an incredibly focused, creative and knowledgeable teacher who people can trust as an online facilitator, and who we value as an asset to our online community.
Christyn Smith,
Online Community Coordinator
I am writing to request a follow-up presentation to yet another one of my classes here at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Your implementation of the "Long Ago and Far Away" fairy tale game that you created for the students in both sections of my Industrial-Organizational Psychology (IO Psy) class last semester exceeded our expectations.
In just a few sessions, you were able to give us tips on both our individual effectiveness as well as to ways to effectively interact together in short, systematic bursts that increased our effectiveness while decreasing conflict and stress.
David Dowd, Drew Mortgage
I am writing to describe my experience working with Stephen Balzac for personal and career coaching. I worked with Steve intermittently for a period of about four to five months, seeking advice and direction during a time when I was experiencing significant career dissatisfaction. We worked primarily via email, with occasional follow-up and feedback carried out by telephone. This arrangement worked very well for me.
Steve guided me through a lot of very valuable self-reflection exercises to help me determine what brought me the most satisfaction both personally and professionally, what my skills and interests were, and how all of those came together to define the kinds of questions I needed to be asking of myself and others, in order to determine which paths to consider. Ultimately I ended up with a much clearer sense of what I wanted to accomplish in my career and in my personal life, and how to work effectively toward achieving my goals.
As much as anything, what my work with Steve did was to help me learn new approaches, and how to identify and tap into the skills I already possessed, to think proactively about my choices. Having accomplished that, I feel much more prepared to make positive and effective decisions about both my career and my personal life in the future, even if my particular interests or goals should change. He helped immensely with self-awareness and the motivational challenges that were blocking me from getting where I wanted to go.
I consider the entire coaching experience to have been time and money well spent, to build a framework for thinking about decision-making and goal-setting that will serve me well throughout my life.
— Tara Smith, Ph.D.
"Dear Stephen,
Great article in Mass High Tech! Your words ring so true. I run the 128 Innovation Capital Group - a networking forum for entrepreneurs and investors. Your article echoed the sentiments of many investors. Thank you."
Annette Reynolds, Executive Director, 128 Innovation Capital Group
"Steve is a "sure-fire" experience. He is brilliant and tremendously insightful to the institutional and self-organizational business psyche. These attributes, coupled with a "no-fail" level of effectiveness, make him an asset of tremendous importance to any entity (group or individual) seeking to untangle and solve seemingly intractable psychological or emotional business problems, and move forward."
David Steinbach, Director of Recruiting Services, CFS Consulting Services, LLC (www.cfscs.com)
"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.
"It was a pleasure meeting and hearing you speak at the Society of Professional Consultants Breakfast of Champions seminar: “Dealing With Organizational Conflict: A Seminar for Consultants” on Wednesday morning. You’re wonderful. I cannot believe how much I learned in 1 ½ hours!"
Manny Correia, former Chief Administrative Officer, Harvard Management Company, Inc.
"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
"We worked with Steve during a restructuring period. He was able to help us identify the specific results that we wanted to achieve, enabling us to create a new development program that is helping us to better maintain consistency and helps strengthen our commitment to our clients."
Adam Scher, Arch Painting
"I really think you've changed my life! You seem to have given me back a part of myself that I'd lost along the way."
Barb Cooper, Author & Speaker
"I met Steve at MIT, where he honed his creative talents and demonstrated an incredible ability to lead. Steve is one of the most imaginative thinkers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. His ability to design complex situations with seemingly unending variables, while at the same time keeping everything balanced and under control, is mesmerizing.
Steve is a master of writing predictive scenarios - plausible situations with potentially dire consequences - which contain a level of detail that places the audience in an appropriate frame of mind to learn ‘on the fly’ and realize they must always be prepared to act."
Even though he moved to CA, I suggested that we hire him to work remotely for a project at Turbine. This was long before telecommuting was common. Steve proved to be as successful as I predicted and surpassed the company's expectations."
Rickland Powell, Executive VP, Turbine Entertainment