Bob Schultek

Bob has more than 30 years of service as a senior sales and business development executive, CEO and business owner. His expertise includes customer-partnered business development, strategic planning, sales management, customer service, operational alignment, lean process analysis and improvement, quality assurance, and performance management. He has worked in the energy, medical device, bioscience & pharmaceutical, discrete and process manufacturing, packaging and distribution, communications and information technology, and business-to-business service industries.

Cultivating Team Accountability

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Since leaders are responsible for the performance of their teams, they often assume the role of primary accountability monitor for each team member.   In team meetings, each teammate reports to the leader, in turn, on her or his activities. The result is a one-sided presentation of information between team member and leader, with little dialogue occurring among the rest of the team. This creates an environment in which team members assume that the leader is the only …

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It’s the Right Time to Make a Difference

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After working virtually for over a year, most employees have now begun returning to the office, and they’re finding that it’s not the same.   While the crisis played itself out, these folks kept the wheels turning, doing the necessary work – fulfilling their duties, meeting deadlines, working to achieve goals. Some enjoyed the flexibility of working from home, and most felt satisfaction that they were getting the job done during a rare, extraordinary time.  But to …

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Your Leadership Is Reflected in Your People

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In a rapidly changing market, with accelerating workflows, responding to urgent operational issues is an increasingly common occurrence. Often, there is no time to wait while senior leadership decides how best to respond, so front-line, customer-contact employees are challenged to make “in the moment” decisions which can have a serious impact on the company’s reputation, brand awareness and finances. Situations like these provide teaching opportunities that support talent development. High impact, urgent and rapidly evolving scenarios will continue …

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Creating Customer Value

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The marketplace is noisy, filled with commodities of all sorts, pitched to the masses, often using low price as the seductive hook. When the objective is to get orders, as many as possible, quickly and easily, then offering a low price can attract the crowd. Low price is obvious, direct and easy to evaluate for these buyers; its benefit is the same for everyone. If your growth strategy is to market your offering as a …

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Leadership is a People Business

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Leaders learn by leading, and they learn best by leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders. ~ Warren G. Bennis   The pace of change challenges leaders to be bold. But the unpredictability of bold actions can cause fear and anxiety within a leader’s team, inhibiting them and potentially compromising the expected outcome. For such actions to be successful, it becomes a leader’s priority to minimize the team’s stress, to help them become …

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Overcoming Obstacles to Improvement

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Leaders are expected to improve results, which means something must change. People often see change as risky, so they resist it until they are convinced that the expected improvement will outweigh the risk of the change. Surviving in a competitive world demands that improvements continue, so motivating people to change, to improve a product or process, consumes much of a leader’s time. Leaders may launch an improvement effort by explaining why the change is necessary, …

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Relying on Feedback

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All automated systems rely on feedback loops to sustain accuracy and repeatability. These loops compare results against system settings, and adjust variables to ensure alignment and expected performance.   Then, when change compels a system’s performance to improve, there’s a ready baseline of consistent data against which to measure and generate improved results. It’s a logical, unemotional process that delivers higher performance.  The performance of people is similarly subject to unrelenting change that disrupts their status quo. And because the …

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Resilient Culture

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In the last ten years, we’ve experienced more change in business than ever before.  The way we work will necessarily keep evolving – we’ll need to work differently.And new, different work will need to be done.  Operating productively with this level of required flexibility will compel every business to rely more heavily on its culture. Hence the increasing dialogue about the value of culture in executing strategy and adapting with agility.   Leaders who are more comfortable …

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Why Purpose Matters

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Human beings are designed for more than mere survival. Once our basic needs are met, and we’re feeling reasonably secure, we begin to ask why we survive, for what? Why do we exist?  Purpose is the answer to these questions. It’s that yearning to be part of something bigger than ourselves, something that motivates us to connect and contribute for a better future, something that makes our lives meaningful and fulfilling. Purpose creates satisfaction and happiness.  Businesses are living …

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Building Organizational Resilience

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Organizational resilience is the proportion of energy that an organization consumes in productive activities. An agile organization relies on resilience to adapt in reaction to significant change or challenge. The combination of 4 elements enables organizational resilience: Personal Alignment: Individuals in the business, particularly the leaders, walk the talk – their behaviors are aligned with the company’s values, demonstrating credibility and integrity that builds trust. Structural Alignment: Teams within the business act in accordance with the company values …

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