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Promoted: Stop Doubting, Start LeadingOf Executive Leadership Author: Karen Gombault
When you land a bigger role, everything changes overnight... the expectations, the visibility, the pressure. Stepping Into the Arena is the podcast for senior leaders navigating high-stakes transitions: promotions, bigger teams, new mandates, reorganizations, or new company cultures. Hosted by Karen Gombault executive coach, mentor, and former CEO each episode delivers sharp strategies, mindset shifts, and straight talk drawn directly from the coaching room. These are the same conversations Karen has with VPs, SVPs, and senior executives across Europe and North America as they navigate their first 180 days. Here, leadership isnt theory. Its action. Youll walk away each week with practical tools to move from pressure to empowerment, build lasting influence, and show up with the authority your role demands. Because the arena is yours and its time to step in and own it. Ready to lead with strategy and impact? Subscribe and tune in weekly. Download my free guide: Get Noticed: 20 Ways to Build Visibility at Work Without Feeling Self-Promotional https://www.karengombault.com/getnoticed Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karengombault/ https://www.instagram.com/karengombaultcoaching/ Email: Karen@karengombault.com For coaching inquiries or to learn more, visit https://www.karengombault.com/ Language: en Genres: Business, Careers, Management Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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69. Leadership Bottlenecks That Disrupt Revenue Growth [2026 Leadership Series]
Episode 69
Tuesday, 21 April, 2026
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 teamHow low trust in forecasting leads to inefficient inspection processes and slower deal cyclesThe effect of multiple or unclear priorities on execution quality and consistency across teamsLeadership-created bottlenecks that restrict deal progression and reduce responsiveness in the sales cycleThe shift from managing activity to coaching for judgment and decision-making in complex sales environmentsRevenue variability is usually driven by how leadership operates, not the market. Clear standards, consistent execution, and fewer internal obstacles determine how reliable results are.Kirsten Schmidtke is the founder of Kirsten Schmidtke Coaching & Consulting, a revenue leadership consulting firm serving B2B technology companies. With 15+ years in enterprise tech, including AWS, she has generated over $100M in revenue and carried multimillion-dollar quotas. She works with CEOs and CROs to close the leadership execution gap that stalls pipeline, burns out sellers, and keeps revenue unpredictable — helping them find the one problem that, when solved, unlocks revenue growth.www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenschmidtke/www.instagram.com/kirstenschmidtke/Connect with Karen: Karen Gombault | LinkedIn
