Stephen R. Balzac, "The Business Sensei," is an author, consultant, and speaker. He is the president of 7 Steps Ahead, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in helping leaders grow their organizations.

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. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, including The Journal of Interactive Drama, The IBM Systems Journal, Mass High Tech, Enterprise Management Quarterly, The CEO Refresher, The Journal of Corporate Recruiting Leadership, Performance & Profits, Corp! Magazine, Analog SF/F and the Worcester Business Journal. Steve is a contributing author to "Ethics and Game Design: Teaching Values Through Play" and the author of "The 36-Hour Course in Organizational Development" published by McGraw-Hill. He is a frequent radio guest and is widely quoted in a variety of publications.

Steve serves on the boards of the New England Society of Applied Psychology (NESAP) and the Society of Professional Consultants (SPC). No stranger to the challenges of achieving peak performance under competitive and stressful conditions, he holds a fourth degree black belt in jujitsu and is a former nationally ranked competitive fencer.

Building effective development organizations, enabling leaders to delegate effectively, 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.

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