About Steve Kaye
I show people who care about Nature easy ways to make a difference.
Then they can leave a legacy they admire.
My approach includes: Professional speaking; Creating books; Writing articles, and Taking photos.
You may have seen me.
I’m the guy with the big lens.
Often I’m standing still, waiting for a bird to appear.
And other times I may be letting people look through my camera to see something they have never seen before.
Or maybe it looks like I’m holding a class outside.
That’s because knowledge has value only when you share it.
I’ve been taking photos since (about) 1954 when my parents gave me a Brownie Hawkeye camera.
And I became fascinated with taking photos of Nature in 1965.
In 2010 I began to focus on taking photos of birds (although I still take photos of landscapes, plants, and wildlife).
Recently, I began taking photos of butterflies and insects, which is even more challenging. As you might expect, these critters are smaller and less predictable than birds.
I use these photos in presentations, books, and articles to inspire respect for Nature.
Find info on these by clicking on Presentations, Books, Blog, or Articles.
Through these I hope that respect for nature will lead to respect for life. This matters because our future depends upon building a foundation of compassion.
I was accepted as an Environmental Partner with the Charter for Compassion. See my page here: Environmental Partner
Photo Ethics
I follow the guidelines for ethical photography cited by Audubon.
See them here: Audubon’s Guide for Ethical Bird Photography
Thus, I cause no damage and leave an area the way it was before I arrived.
I use only my photos in my presentations, books, articles (except for photos someone took of me).
And I take photos only of real, live, wild critters.
I started a professional speaking business in 1992.
That business was named Personal Quality, and then One Great Meeting, with the mission to: Create Success. This mission also defines my life: It reminds me to live in ways that benefit others.
Great leaders create success. That is, they serve to build a better future for everyone. Then everyone prospers.
This business helped leaders become more effective by teaching essential leadership skills: How to Hold Effective Meetings, How to Design and Deliver Business Presentations, How to Communicate Respectfully, How to Understand Others (based on the DISC Behavior Styles system), and How to Manage Time.
I also worked as a Meeting Facilitator, helping groups find solutions. In 2003 I earned the Certified Professional Facilitator designation from the International Association of Facilitators (which is based on a full-day, rigorous, skill-based assessment that included demonstrating skills in a meeting where one of the attendees had been assigned to disrupt your process).
I’ve written books on effective meetings plus hundreds of articles on leadership skills that appeared in commercial publications, my monthly newsletters, and my blog posts. Find my books at: Books by Steve Kaye
I served as the 1996-97 president of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Speakers Association (now NSA SoCal), won the 1995 Connie Award (their speech contest), and was honored as the chapter’s 2002 Member of the Year.
And I was honored as the 1975 Toastmaster of the Year by the Martinsville, VA, Toastmasters club.
As you might expect, I have extensive experience in helping program planners hold successful events.
I also worked as an employee.
I began working as a research engineer in 1972 with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering.
During this time I worked on a variety of assignments that included basic research, manufacturing R & D, field tests, administration, and software development.
So I’m familiar with the way business works.
Before that I earned spending money by raking leaves and shoveling snow for neighbors. Then I had summer jobs stocking groceries, wrapping meat as an apprentice butcher (2 summers), working general labor in a steel mill, and performing research as a lab technician (3 summers).
So I’m also familiar with the work people do.
If you’d like to know more about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it, please read my Mission and my Ethics pages.
And if you’re interested in a bit of fun, please meet my Staff.
If you’d like to know about my photo equipment, see: Steve’s Photo Gear.
And if you’d like to know how I resolve challenges, see: The Other Side of the Speaking Business.
Thank you for visiting,