Stephen Cassidy

Writing after a series of conversations with staffing professionals, they say these roles are "building relationships through conversational steps" and give the sequence: Engage, Discover, Understand, Explore, Agree, Act, Reflect.

• The words may change; the process does not.
• Activity gets you to the conversation, the conversation creates engagement, engagement builds the relationship, and results tell you something about the process.

A working distinction from the same post: the number of phone calls can be a measure, but engagement time per call tells you something different about whether the conversation landed.

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The art is what happens live — knowing when to speak, listen, ask, wait, and walk beside someone rather than ahead of them.

• The science is the preparation and review around the conversation: aiming, focusing, developing questions from what you learned, paying attention in real time, measuring, reflecting and adjusting.
• They treat the two as walking beside each other, making the process itself one of the most important tools in the kit.
• The post also takes on the phrase "build trust", noting it has been repeated so often it blurs, like being told to lift with your knees, and replaces the slogan with specific behaviours.

The post's example of the problem is blurred advice: "build trust" heard a thousand times, set against a concrete list of when to speak, listen, ask, wait and walk beside.

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Show up, pay attention, notice what appears, and let the process reveal the next step; direction becomes visible after you begin.

• They present this as the method behind the writing as much as a belief: notice something, write it down, turn it over, follow what appears.
• Cassidy extends it to the work itself — the book walks beside me, the posts walk beside me — and concludes they thought they were leading the book when they had actually been walking beside it.
• "Making the Invisible Visible" is the name of that wider work, which they describe as circling conversation, recruiting, process, awareness, trust and curiosity.

The setting is a morning walk that begins without a destination. When Cassidy asks where they are heading, Benson answers: "Let's go."

In "The End of the Trail", Cassidy brings results back as a companion to process, rather than its opposite, softening the emphasis here on letting the process lead.

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"The End of the Trail" opens with what they call a contradiction — results, numbers and measurements turning up at the end of a walk — then rejects it.

• Placements, revenue, retention and clients matter; the goal is the destination, while the trail is how you get there, and how you walk it shapes what happens on arrival.
• Cassidy argues the result often improves once it stops being the only measure of success, and that awareness of your atmosphere, conversations, choices, reactions and connections does not compete with the scoreboard.

Four questions the post puts to a practitioner after a conversation: How did I show up?

• What did I notice?
• What did I learn?
• What happened to the connection?
• It closes with Benson apparently asking not how far we are going but whether we are going together.

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An artichoke cooked for 48 hours with the lid on finally opens up, and they liken conversations, writing a book, recruiting and selling to something that opens in its own time.

• The turn is that satisfaction may not be a result at all but a "wow" — a moment of recognition when a conversation arrives somewhere.
• Cassidy asks themselves whose satisfaction is being measured: theirs, the other person's, the result, the number, or that small internal moment when something says yes, that is it.
• The post leaves the question unresolved.

The artichoke is the concrete image: Cassidy comes home, sees it has opened up, and finds the same pattern in conversations, the book, recruiting and selling — then ends by noticing, savouring and continuing to walk.

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Cassidy lays out the sequence rather than describing it in the abstract.

Cassidy writes that conversations with staffing professionals kept landing on the same point: the sales process and the conversation process have the same shape.

• The sequence is Engage, Discover, Understand, Explore, Agree, Act, Reflect — the words may change, but the process does not.
• The piece divides the work in two.
• The art is knowing when to speak, listen, ask, wait, or walk beside someone rather than ahead of them.
• The science is preparation, aim, focus, questions built from what you learned, attention in real time, measurement, reflection and adjustment.
• They also distinguish counting phone calls from measuring engagement time per call, arguing that the second says something different from the first.

For brands planning a campaign

The seven steps and art/science split give a training provider a ready-made workshop spine: each step can anchor an exercise, while the contrast between call counts and engagement time offers a practical lesson in measuring more than activity volume.

Cassidy treats goals and process as companions and offers four reflection questions practitioners can use.

Cassidy sets up a contradiction — results, numbers and measurements appearing right at the end of the trail — then rejects it.

• Placements, revenue, retention and clients matter, but the goal is the destination; the trail is how you walk it, and that shapes what happens on arrival.
• The piece offers four practical questions: How did I show up?
• What did I notice?
• What did I learn?
• What happened to the connection?
• They argue that results often improve once they stop being the only measure of success.
• The piece closes with Benson the dog apparently asking not how far we are going but whether we are going together.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for a session on retention and long-term client relationships in recruiting: the four reflection questions work as a debrief template, and the closing reframe — are we going together — gives account management teams that default to scoreboard language a strong discussion prompt.

It shows the method behind the posts: notice something, write it down, turn it over, follow what appears.

Cassidy starts with not knowing where the morning walk is going and extends that idea to process: you do not need to know where it is taking you; you walk beside it.

• The piece names the book and the posts as things that walk beside them, then lands on the idea that process reveals direction and awareness lets you see it.
• They say the writing has been doing this all along across conversation, recruiting, process, awareness, trust and curiosity, and refer to the phrase Making the Invisible Visible as something emerging through that work.
• They thought they were leading the book but have actually been walking beside it.

For brands planning a campaign

Better suited to a keynote opening or newsletter collaboration than a hands-on training module. It explains the thinking a speaker would bring to a stage and gives a content partner a natural frame for a co-written series on running conversations without forcing an outcome.

It is the most reflective of the four and the clearest window into how Cassidy thinks about their own work.

Cassidy describes a quiet September Sunday walk, then an artichoke cooked with the lid on that finally opened up, using it as an image for conversations, writing a book, recruiting and selling.

• The turn is that maybe satisfied is not a result but a wow — a moment of recognition you notice rather than manufacture, like hearing a conversation arrive somewhere.
• They ask whose satisfaction is being measured: ours, the other person's, the result, the number, or that small internal moment when something says yes, that is it.
• The piece resists resolving the question and closes on noticing, savouring and continuing to walk.

For brands planning a campaign

Works as coaching material on reflective practice and the slow-burn side of recruiting and sales, where activity is visible but the payoff is not. The whose-satisfaction question is ready-made for a discussion block, and the artichoke image gives a training provider something concrete to open with rather than another definition of trust.

In one post, they say these professionals “build relationships through conversational steps” and lay out a sequence: Engage → Discover → Understand → Explore → Agree → Act → Reflect.

• The same post says the words may change, but the process does not.
• It connects activity measures, such as the number of phone calls, to engagement time per call, then to relationship-building and results.

Short prose sequence with aphoristic explanation.

For brands planning a campaign

A workshop or content collaboration could use this sequence as a teachable framework for consultative conversation, with exercises or discussion prompts for each step. It gives recruiting and sales trainers a concrete process to evaluate, not just an inspirational talk on trust.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The art is knowing when to speak, listen, ask, wait and walk beside someone rather than ahead of them.

• The science is preparation: set an aim and focus, develop questions from what you have learned, pay attention in real time, measure, reflect and adjust.
• The post says the two walk beside each other and that the process itself can become one of the most important tools.

Paired contrasts and a recurring “walking beside” metaphor.

For brands planning a campaign

This is a ready-made workshop spine: part practice-based listening and questioning, part repeatable preparation and review. A training company could use it to show how to teach consultative conversation without reducing it to a script.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3

You show up, pay attention, notice what appears and let the process reveal the next step.

• They connect this to a book project called “Making the Invisible Visible” and say direction becomes visible after you start walking.
• A later post casts goals and process as companions, not opposites: the goal is the destination, the trail is how you get there.

Reflective LinkedIn post with short lines, recurring dialogue with Benson, and an explicit reframing of process and destination.

For brands planning a campaign

A content collaboration could build a series or talk around discovery-led conversations and iterative client work. The point of view will resonate with audiences seeking both structure and openness in sales or recruiting conversations.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Another challenges results-only thinking in recruiting, naming placements, revenue, retention and clients, and asking how awareness of atmosphere, conversations, choices, reactions and connections changes how someone walks the trail. It says that when results stop being the only measure of success, they often improve.

Contrast between activity and engagement metrics, followed by a reflective trail metaphor.

For brands planning a campaign

A workshop can explore conversation metrics alongside placements or revenue, giving sales and recruiting leaders a way to evaluate conversation quality without dismissing the numbers they already track.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Its central idea is that “satisfied is a wow”—a moment of recognition, hearing something or feeling a conversation arrive somewhere, not a manufactured result.

• The post asks whose satisfaction is being measured: ours, the other person’s, the result, the number, or the tiny moment when something inside the conversation says “Yep.
• That’s it.”

For brands planning a campaign

This reflective frame could open or close a coaching session on client or candidate conversations, helping a speaker or coach slow down a room focused only on closing outcomes.

Examples: Source 1

They use short lines, repeated phrases, dialogue with Benson, a dog emoji and cues such as “More on that tomorrow…” to link posts.

• In one post, Stephen Cassidy writes: “Benson walks beside me.
• The book walks beside me.
• The posts walk beside me.”
• The style is episodic and low-polish, with a consistent reflective voice.

Serial LinkedIn posts with next-day cues, a recurring animal companion and aphoristic line breaks.

For brands planning a campaign

A brand could evaluate this as a content style: episodic, personal and built around a recurring motif. It could suit a sponsored series, a workshop follow-up newsletter or short-form training content with the same voice.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

Another names “Making the Invisible Visible” and says the book has been walking beside them, exploring conversation, recruiting, process, awareness, trust, curiosity, and the invisible becoming visible. They thought they were leading the book but have actually been walking beside it.

Ask for publication details and confirmation of the title.

For brands planning a campaign

If the book is real and forthcoming, a brand could consider a launch collaboration or workshop tie-in. Ask for the publication date, publisher and confirmation that the book is forthcoming before treating it as a confirmed asset.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

One post says conversation is the process of building a relationship and ultimately trust, and notes that “build trust” can become blurry advice through repetition.

• Another lists the subjects they have been writing about: conversation, recruiting, process, awareness, trust, curiosity, and the invisible becoming visible.
• A later post ties awareness to choices, reactions, connections, and how someone shows up.

For brands planning a campaign

These recurring subjects can organize a workshop into modules on trust behaviors, awareness in conversation, and relationship-building. They give a training audience language for what to practice, not just what to value.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3

One reflects on satisfaction as a noticed moment.

• Another lays out the art and science of conversation and the Engage-to-Reflect sequence.
• Another says the process leads.
• The fourth returns to results and says goals and process are companions.
• The second post ends with “More on that tomorrow…,” and the third picks up process; the fourth is framed as “The End of the Trail.”
• Together, they read as an evolving argument rather than isolated topics.

Short posts build an argument across entries, carrying phrases and motifs from one to the next.

If chronology matters, ask for post dates; they aren't included.

For brands planning a campaign

A workshop or content series can follow this arc: notice what is happening, learn a repeatable process, let the process lead, then integrate results without chasing them. That sequence could structure a multi-session program for recruiting or sales teams.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

Martinussen's post about retracing the route to a first sales job and Cassidy's posts about conversation as a process share the habit of building an argument from a walk and a memory rather than a list of tactics.

Martinussen writes as a commercial advisor, naming the problems firms buy help with — unpredictable forecasts, the founder-led growth trap and high-risk sales leadership hires — and describing a fixed-price audit and fractional sales leadership.

• Cassidy stays with the conversation itself and the writing.
• For details of any service offering, ask them directly.

Read original · Original 2

Bruno's posts on recovering from rejection and why candidates ghost recruiters give recruiters concrete behaviours to change, much like Cassidy's list of "when to speak, listen, ask, wait."

Bruno's format is a recurring tip-and-training slot pointing to videos, a subscription, a phone number and booking details; the advice is practical and directly commercial.

• Cassidy's format is episodic reflective prose, with metaphor and dialogue but no call to action.
• The two read very differently, even where the subject overlaps.

Read original · Original 2

Both use short lines, a personal story and a closing question to the reader.

Lahav's subject is leadership identity, ambition and legacy, written largely for women leaders and drawing on speaking and coaching work. Cassidy focuses on the mechanics of a commercial conversation, with a continuing book project rather than a coaching practice holding the writing together.

Read original · Original 2

His published material names specific problems the practice fixes — unpredictable forecasts, the founder-led growth trap, high-risk VP Sales hires and underperforming sales managers — and two defined ways of working: a 90-day GTM reboot at a fixed price and fractional sales leadership, entered through a two-week GTM audit.

• A training company seeking a co-branded diagnostic, or a client asking what happens to the pipeline after the workshop, gets a concrete answer here.
• Martinussen also publishes a firsthand career narrative, walking the same street to a first sales job in 1994, and a consistent thesis: people buy from people, trust and curiosity still matter, and technology can accelerate a strategy but cannot replace one.
• That thesis aligns with the buying decision about how sales conversations get run.

Martinussen’s posts are mostly offer descriptions plus a thesis, not a taught method.

• They name no sequence, exercises or debrief structure — nothing comparable to the seven conversation steps or four closing questions a workshop on consultative conversations would use.
• The material also assumes a company with revenue problems and executives willing to buy a diagnostic, so a room of recruiters or junior sellers would get teaching built around that diagnosis.
• Ask for audience and engagement figures before assessing reach.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

One post offers a staffing tip on handling rejection — learn from it, act on it, move forward — alongside a direct route to training, speaking and one-on-one consulting, plus a pointer to a YouTube channel.

• The other promotes a weekly video explaining why candidates ghost recruiters, with practical strategies and honest insights framed as immediately applicable.
• If the workshop needs someone already publishing recruiter content on a schedule and the buyer wants a visible booking path, this is the better-matched candidate.

The posts show recruitment topics and their packaging, not the teaching.

• The strategy for reducing ghosting is in a linked video that is not among the posts here.
• Ask to see the video before judging the training’s depth.
• Some posts also cover scheduling and subscription logistics.
• The subject matter is recruiter execution and candidate handling rather than a general conversation process: a sales training company seeking one framework to use on both candidate and client calls would need to supply that framework.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The posts focus on a leader’s stance toward the people they develop: seeing talent and potential before the person sees it, saying "there, that, do you see her?", building an environment where people are challenged and believed in enough to find their own answers, and pursuing an ambition that grew bigger than the individual.

• In one post, Lahav writes directly about being a woman who helps people see what is already inside themselves.
• For a module on developing a team for sales managers, or a conference opener before a process session, this material does what a conversation framework cannot.

The posts focus on motivation and narrative, asking readers to reconsider their own definition of success.

• They offer no conversation sequence, discovery questions or way to measure a call against the engagement it produced.
• For a consultative conversation workshop, ask for the framework the buyer would otherwise have to supply.
• This material complements a process workshop; it does not substitute for one.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2