About this episode

Karen Gombault discusses leadership bottlenecks affecting revenue growth with guest Kirsten Schmidtke.

In this episode of Grounded and Aligned™, Karen Gombault speaks with Kirsten Schmidtke, founder of a revenue leadership consulting firm focused on B2B technology companies. The discussion examines why revenue issues are often treated as sales problems when they come from how leadership is operating. If your growth targets are not converting into consistent results, this episode looks at how leadership structure, priorities, and decisions affect revenue, especially in the context of AI, remote work, and shifting buyer expectations. Karen and Kirsten look at: The gap between individual sales performance and the ability to generate revenue through a team How low trust in forecasting leads to inefficient inspection processes and slower deal cycles The effect of multiple or unclear priorities on execution quality and consistency across teams Leadership-created bottlenecks that restrict deal progression and reduce responsiveness in the sales cycle The shift from managing activity to coaching for judgment and decision-making in complex sales environments Revenue variability is usually driven by how leadership operates, not the market. Clear standards, consistent execution, and fewer…

People in this episode

Host: Karen Gombault

Guest: Kirsten Schmidtke

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kirsten Schmidtke Coaching & Consulting, AWS

More episodes of Grounded and Aligned™

• 71. New Job? Spend Time on What Matters · June 16, 2026 · 13 min
• 68. Authentic Visibility · April 14, 2026 · 11 min
• 67. You Don't Have to Choose Between Integrity and Influence · April 1, 2026 · 16 min
• 66. From Compliance to Commitment in Team Performance [2026 Leadership Series] · March 26, 2026 · 42 min
• 65. Say The Actual Thing · March 25, 2026 · 17 min
• 64. Leading People Starts With Leading Yourself [2026 Leadership Series] · March 19, 2026 · 44 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Grounded and Aligned™ podcast page.