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Meet Steven Gaffney
Showing Audiences How Open, Honest Communication Builds Leaders
and Grows Businesses
Would you believe that the single, most common obstacle holding businesses back from their true potential is open, honest communication?
No one knows this better than Steven Gaffney, who for the past 14 years has been a leading expert on honest interpersonal communication, influence, and leadership. Today Steven is one of the most recognized authorities on the subject of honesty.
Given Steven’s inability to speak due to hearing impairments as a child, he learned at a very early age the importance of communication. This problem stimulated Steven’s desire to help individuals transform the quality of their lives through honest and effective communication, and is the foundation of the Steven Gaffney Company.
Steven developed The Honest Communication Results System,™ a simple and effective method of communicating that has empowered individuals to speak to anyone, about anything, at any time. This system is highlighted in his two best-selling books “Just Be Honest: Authentic Communication Strategies that Get Results and Last a Lifetime” and “Honesty Works! Real-World Solutions to Common Problems at Work and Home.”
He has also developed proven communication systems, including The Honest Presentations Systems™, The Honest Achievement Results System,™ and The Honest Leadership Results System.™
Steven’s services have been sought out by a diverse range of leaders and top executives of multinational corporations such as Marriott, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, BP, Citigroup, Allstate Insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Best Buy, NASA, American Cancer Society, the U.S. Navy, SAIC, American Express, Blue Care Network of Michigan, the Oncology Nursing Association, and many others. He also works with top leaders in the military, speakers, writers, entertainers, teachers, parents, and couples.
Steven Gaffney has been interviewed or featured in major media and publications including CBS, NBC, FOX, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and USA Today, as well as numerous national and local radio programs in cities across the country. Steven also produced and hosted his own cable access show, "Maximum Effectiveness," where he interviewed successful individuals to reveal the secrets to their success.
Steven serves as a relationship expert for BettyConfidential.com, a growing online community for women. His column shares tips and advice to guide women from all walks of life on their quest for happier, healthier relationships in their work and home life. He has also partnered with Professionals in the City, a social networking organization, to conduct seminars specifically for women.
Earlier in his career, Gaffney founded two non-profit organizations including POWER—People Organized for World Empowerment and Results, a non-profit organization that provides speakers and trainers to charitable organizations.
Steven is a member of the National Speakers Association, and his programs consistently receive high ratings, with attendees and participants reporting immediate, sustainable results. He is also a former adjunct faculty member of The Johns Hopkins University, as well as former board member of the Washington, D.C. chapter of Sales and Marketing Executives International. Thousands of people across the nation credit Steven’s speaking engagements, seminars, television and radio appearances, books and multimedia products with making immediate and lasting positive changes in both their organizations as well as their personal lives.
Steven was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to American parents. He is a graduate of James Madison University and now resides in Arlington, Virginia.
“My whole life has been a series of trigger points for change and they weren’t all pleasant," Steven explained. "At one time, I was an agent for photographers, illustrators, and film and radio-commercial directors. I had a partner in this business who, in time, wanted to run the business on her own. My first reaction was to resent her attitude, but life works in funny ways. I had been giving seminars on the side for photographers and other creative folks on communication and motivation, and had really enjoyed doing it. When I decided to leave the agency, it occurred to me that I actually enjoyed conducting seminars more than being an agent. I immediately launched my business in communication and motivation.
“Another trigger point involved my mother, who by her own admission is a very negative person. If I say things are going well, she’ll ask if I am prepared for the future. Every April she reminds me of the tax deadline, despite my years of experience in business. Over the years, I learned to tune her out, until one time I attended a seminar in which the leader said, “Remember to listen for the real message. Sometimes the true meaning lies behind the words.” Suddenly I understood that my mother’s warnings and questions expressed her love for me, not disrespect. From that moment on, I’ve heard her worries as an expression of her love and concern and it’s changed my relationship with her.”
“Getting the difference between what I thought my mother was saying and her real intent deepened my conviction that there’s often a significant gap between what we notice about another person and what we imagine about them. And that difference is at the core of my Honest Communication Results System.
“And finally, there was something that happened when I was three. By that age, I was unable to speak correctly. I could just mumble a few words, and a doctor advised my mother to put me in a class for ‘slow’ children. She refused and took me to other doctors, who discovered multiple ear infections affecting my hearing and ability to communicate. A series of operations and three years of speech therapy corrected the problem, and no one has been able to shut me up since!
“Looking back, I can see that all these trigger points involved reversals or negative circumstances that changed or were overcome. All of them led me in directions that, in the end, shaped who I am and what I do.
“It’s hard to pick out whether they illustrate resiliency, hope, self-efficacy or optimism. All four, I guess, because they are related. But it’s not all about me, anyway," Steven said. "My concern is if I’ve been able to help the world be just a little better place, a happier, more productive place through better communication. If I have, then everything that brought me to this point, good or bad, has been worth it.”
