Early Career

In the summer of 2013, Steven started a position in sales and marketing: generating leads, presenting to groups, closing sales, and getting rejected - a lot. At the end of the summer, he was the top seller in his office and the top 1% in the Los Angeles region. More importantly, he worked with a group of people who supported each other, shared tips and tools, succeeded and failed together, and had fun along the way. There, he eventually entered his first management position where he trained and mentored others. Both humbling and eye-opening, this early career experience taught him the value of: perseverance, trust in a proven process, and the joy and camaraderie of working with a team.

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Human Services

A couple of years later in 2015, he left sales and marketing to work with an organization providing services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities - supporting them with going to school, finding work, developing their social skills, and living meaningful lives. Each client was unique, with personalities, interests, and abilities different from the next. Their families were often heavily involved and other agencies played various supportive and administrative roles. Steven learned to build trust with and model behavior for his clients, help them manage their day-to-day activities, de-escalate aggression (verbally and physically), and respond to medical and behavioral crises - while considering the needs of all parties involved.

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A New Approach to Leadership

Eventually, he entered his next position in management at this agency. Steven took on a leadership role - training and developing teams - and creating individualized behavioral plans for each client. He supported 5 to 7 clients at any given time; which entailed managing the work of up to 23 employees. This transition from providing direct client services to leadership was particularly challenging because it required a new set of skills. Whereas in sales and marketing, there was a process that could be replicated, providing behavioral services was much more dependent on the client and the person providing support. Teaching and giving direction, while necessary at times, were no longer the ideal methods for training team members. They needed to learn to think for themselves, adapt to new situations, consider the needs and desires of families and other agencies, and be creative. There was no one-size-fits-all approach. And while understanding his own style and approach was useful on a personal level, he needed to learn how to help them develop their own method of providing services. In response to this, Steven developed a coach approach to leadership - deviating from a more traditional command-and-control style of management.

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Strengths and Blind-Spots

During his time in this role, Steven experienced an intense period of growth that challenged him, illuminated his weaknesses, and pushed him past what he thought he could endure; ultimately, teaching him what human beings are capable of with a bit of encouragement and guidance. He identified his strengths and learned how to cultivate the strengths of his team members -  so that they could leverage those abilities to benefit clients and grow as individuals. Through the ups and downs, Steven successfully helped some of his clients: graduate from high school, find employment, lose weight, improve their health, and establish meaningful relationships. He simultaneously mentored new leaders and promoted several of his own team members to leadership positions.

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Education, Growth, and Development

Steven and Ani worked together as leaders at the same agency - along with a group of incredible colleagues and directors. The ideas exchanged, conversations had, and stories shared with this group of people played a significant role in shaping their personal and professional development; showing them what teams can achieve when they work collaboratively. Steven spent the next 6 years in this position, experiencing the challenges and privileges of formal leadership. Meanwhile, he began studying industrial/organizational psychology in his master's program specializing in team dynamics, coaching, and strengths-based leadership - inspired by his experiences in human services and team development.

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Why Insight?

Having learned a great deal through these experiences as a student and a leader, Steven is dedicated to helping others improve team effectiveness in organizations by utilizing the tools of applied psychology, coaching, and organizational consulting - offering his insight and expertise to help others generate insight of their own.