Steve Flanagan

Hello, I am Steve Flanagan. (Only my mother calls me Stephen.) I was born in Glasgow, Scotland and moved to Canada with my family when I was 12 years old. I currently live in the beautiful wine region of Niagara, Canada. As Senior Instructor with Langevin Learning Services, I enjoy a variety of duties but mostly enjoy conducting our excellent workshops in fantastic locations throughout the world.

When I look back on my career, it all started with a love of sports – most of all soccer. I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education and dreamed of being a pro soccer player. I translated my love of soccer and physical performance to the corporate sector and became a trainer. At this point in my career, my work experience includes training in the government and large corporations, as well as being an independent consultant. I’ve had nothing but amazing experiences since joining Langevin Learning Services in 2000.

My training philosophy has evolved over the years. In today’s demanding and fast-paced training environment, my philosophy centers around giving people value for their training time and dollar. Bring them in, give them what they need to know, get through the work, and have some fun doing it!

Interests and Hobbies

My biggest passion in life (besides my family and training) is guitar. I play them, collect them, polish them – I love guitars! When I return home from a Langevin workshop late at night, everyone at home is sleeping, so I pick up my favourite guitar and “pick ‘n’ grin” for a while.

Life’s Biggest Lessons and Influences – So Far

I make a point of learning something from everyone I meet. Since I mostly talk for a living, I try to spend the rest of the time listening. I learn from family, friends, cab drivers, kids, participants in class. I always take away something. The main driving force in my life is my wife, Brenda. She inspires me to challenge myself.

My Favourite Langevin Moment

There have been many: teaching instructional design in Singapore, having Dr. Don Kirkpatrick visit my class on Evaluation of Training. Mostly, though, I remember a situation in 2004; a 59-year-old man attended the Instructional Techniques for New Instructors workshop. He worked at a factory and his job was being eliminated. He was offered an instructor job or nothing at all. He was terrified. Over the 3 days, we spent a lot of time together after class. On the last day, I overheard him calling his wife on the phone. “Honey, honey…I can do this – we’ll be OK!” After class he asked me to autograph his certificate. He said our course gave him a new start. For me it doesn’t get any better than that!