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.

Is Fear Inhibiting Your Growth?

January 22, 2014October 30, 2013 by Bob Schultek

As businesses grow, their organizations become more complex. Responsibilities are divided to drive productivity and goal achievement. Department leaders become endowed with control, which they then strive to protect. The fear of losing control often causes these leaders to erect barriers. Barriers promote bureaucracy, inefficiency, low morale and failure by shifting the focus away from the organization’s goals to a concentration on departmental needs. Full engagement with customers is hampered by competing priorities within the …

Two Vital Leadership Tools You Need

December 17, 2014October 23, 2013 by Bob Schultek

Business leaders have never experienced a more fast-paced and complex leadership environment. Many are struggling to adapt quickly enough and are frustrated by their constraints. Focusing on sales, profit and strategy is not enough. How you lead your business in overcoming today’s challenges is vital. Relying on your experience and intellect alone will not produce the results you seek. To grow, your company is relying on your leadership. Cultivating high-value innovation, building trust relationships with …

Ignorance Is No Excuse

January 22, 2014October 9, 2013 by Bob Schultek

Bill can’t understand why his people are discouraged and frustrated. After a couple of slow years, the company is busy again so there’s plenty of work. No fairness or compensation issues have been raised. He is keeping everyone aware of their progress and communicating his expectation that goals must be achieved to accelerate their progress. So why do many in the company seem so negative? Peter Drucker and other gurus have been credited with saying: …

Competitive Advantages Don’t Last Forever

April 21, 2022October 2, 2013 by Bob Schultek

Business needs evolve over time. The distinctive offering that drives your growth today has been productive because it enabled your company to solve your customers’ problems and produce value for them better than anyone else. But tomorrow those same customers will have different challenges. Will you be ready to meet them? Today’s competitive advantage will not produce the same value for your customers tomorrow. Like you, your customers must remain competitive so their needs and challenges will change. Remaining …

What Is Your Distinctive Competence?

January 22, 2014September 17, 2013 by Bob Schultek

In their book, Tuned In (Stull, Myers & Scott), the authors use the term “distinctive competence” to define the unique value produced by an organization for their customers. This is not your core competence but rather an outward looking principle that is more profound than what your company does well and more vital for your sustainable growth. Customers choose to work with companies that solve their problems better than anyone else. You earn this preference by gaining a comprehensive understanding …

Purpose Is Power

January 14, 2014September 12, 2013 by Bob Schultek

We all recently relived the horrific events that seared the date of September 11th into our memories. It was a tragic day, but it provoked in us a realization of common purpose that many had forgotten. Do you recall the pride and energy that our shared purpose aroused in us? There are days when you feel like your business is under attack. Meeting rapid fire challenges drains the energy in your organization and can cause …

Treating Everyone The Same Is Not Fair!

November 22, 2013September 11, 2013 by Bob Schultek

One much revered principle of people management is that you should treat everyone the same if you want all to feel that they’re being treated fairly. But this approach is unproductive. Equal pay for equal work is a vital management parameter. Employees are constantly watching to see if someone is getting a better deal than they are. Sustaining fairness in compensation is mandatory to building trust and motivation. But once compensation issues are resolved, what …

“They’re Not All The Same”

September 4, 2013September 3, 2013 by Bob Schultek

Judy’s company produces a high quality water container serving the recreational market. When I arrived, Judy and her Sales Manager, Bill, were brainstorming about new product concepts for their served market. To achieve their growth goals, they needed to launch a new product that would capitalize on their success and be distinctive enough to appeal to their market. One of their employees had recently told Bill about his friend who was using their key product …

Are You Headed Down The Rabbit Hole?

January 29, 2014August 27, 2013 by Bob Schultek

Prevailing wisdom states that the unmet needs of your customers are the most productive source for “New Business Opportunities” or service ideas. Others claim that relying on existing customers for your innovations can lead you to chase those customers “down the rabbit hole” of worthless concepts. Customers are always a valuable source for potential innovations. Your relationship enables the sharing of unmet needs that are typically viable for their served markets – ideas you might …