michael stratford | speaker | author | master coach

Welcome...

... to a slightly different way to get to know someone. Thanks for being curious and coming to play.

You can manually go through the slideshow at right by clicking on the circles below the pictures.

Sincerely, and not without a small dash of whimsy.... Michael

Speaker

I love doing the speaker thing. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to provoke people in to new states of being as part of my transformation work.

This topic was called "Be Yourself or Die Someone Else!" and is one of my all-time favorites. It's a signature message for most of my life.

Author

I love to write. These are my books on coaching, but I've also written coach training, leadership development programs for both live and e-learning, haiku and children's stories.

I've even written a Play or two, one of which was produced "Off, Off Broadway."

Trainer

Another way I love interacting with people is via trainings. Whether it's on Quintessential Leadership, Optimizing Employee Engagement, or one of a dozen or so topics I lead, I love being part of people's personal development commitment - to developing themselves and their skills, with the outcome to be better leaders and to interact with others more effectively.

Coach

This is me in one of many moments enjoying coaching with a client.

There's alot of lightness as we approach 'serious' issues. There would regularly be laughter coming from my office. At one point I told my son I wanted to go on vacation and he said, "From what?" Which brought home how wonderful coaching is as a profession.

Workshops

One of the more fun things I get to lead is something I created called, "Playing & Winning the Game You're Built4!"

It's a combination of play and work that approaches life and business challenges from the innovative, creative and playful point of view using the analogy of games.

This is Story Time.

Clients

Here are just some of the companies whose executives and teams I've had the privilege to work with.

It's always a joy to support leaders who are trying to have their people experience a great time at work, while producing the results the company needs in order to thrive. A delicate balance at times.

Adventure

This is white water rafting in West Virginia (cue banjos).

Myself (in red) and my son are in the front of the raft. This is shortly before I got tossed out in to a class 5 rapid at the base of a 12 foot 'hole.' I had to swim for it.

I love the front of the boat, where the action is.

Wisdom

Einstein is one of my favorite 'mentors.'

A person who had a great level of insight and wisdom, grounded in a complex relationship of science and spirituality.

It parallels one of my own sayings, "Expertise has a shelf life, discovery is eternal."

Builder

One of my 56 jobs was as a builder in NYC.

While I had never taken on a job like a glass brick wall before, I figured it would be easy. Nope! The white mortar needs to be instantly removed before it dries. It took myself, my wife, and two kind neighbors to scrape it off.

You learn something new everyday, even about the things you think you know something about.

Sedona, Arizona

This is one of my favorite places to visit. It's a little hard to see the perspective, but this landbridge/arch is way up there. And those trees are below, not in front.

Sedona is an exquisite hiking area we visit every year. It provides all sorts of hiking challenges, and plenty of them can give you the willies if you let them!