Gulf Coast’s Steve Ziemke on Success, Leadership, and Communication

Sure, you could watch a YouTube video to find out the secrets to success. Or go old school and read a book. Or, you could take it straight from the horse’s mouth. Steve Ziemke is the executive vice president at Gulf Coast Western in Dallas, where his responsibilities range from partnership development to strategic planning and operations — and he knows a thing or two about success, leadership, and communication.

“I think for me, my success is communication,” he shares. “So, when a person who’s new to oil and gas comes into a project, the important thing for me is to  make them comfortable and keep them informed on the project. How are the wells doing? What are they producing? What’s the status? What’s the next step? And so, build that relationship.”

 Gulf Coast Western’s mission is to develop and produce horizontal oil and gas wells, specifically in the DJ, Delaware (West Permian) and Powder River Basins. Ziemke’s mission is to leverage his many skill sets to build the company’s portfolio. 

Steve Ziemke’s Power of Positive Thinking

Ziemke didn’t start in the energy field. Instead, he spent decades in insurance, building his sales repertoire and developing leadership skills. With a Bachelor of Science in forest management from Michigan Technological University and an MBA in business management from Boise State University, he quickly climbed the ladder to become an assistant vice president at California Casualty. He leaned into his innate talents and built his professional acumen from there.

He attributes much of his success to his positive attitude. The more positive he is, the more positivity he attracts. “I have always been a positive person and believe the glass is half full,” he shared. “The more positive I am, the more positivity I attract.”

Like all successful people, Ziemke zoomed in on what he could do in any given situation. When he worked in insurance, he constantly improved his managerial and communication skills. If he saw an opportunity to optimize efficiency, such as bringing operations in-house to better preserve the company’s budget and performance, he took action.

Ziemke worked for several other companies after California Casualty, but he soon realized that the insurance industry had changed, and he sought after a new landscape.

Switching to Fossil Fuels

Steve Ziemke didn’t spend much time looking for an industry that was a better fit. Oil and gas investments simply made sense, especially considering how comfortable he felt in a sales role. Of course, that doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing from right out of the gate. In fact, he struggled for months to find his place. 

He recalls, “For me, coming from insurance to oil and gas, I had no idea what I was getting into, and there was a lot of apprehension and a lot of success around me, and me not selling and taking a few months to get it, but always hanging in there and continuing to develop my skills and achieve my activity goals, make sure I was on the phone enough and just work hard to make it happen.”

Coming out of insurance, he didn’t exactly know what he was signing up for. But much like every other challenge in his life, he put in the time, work, and energy into getting better. He made sure he got all his calls in, developing relationships from the ground up, just as he did in the insurance industry. 

Going the Extra Mile

It’s easy for leaders at the top of their fields to assume they have all the answers. After all, they’re surrounded by people who validate their belief systems — but Steve Ziemke doesn’t quite share this view. Instead, he acknowledges that when everything is changing all around you, you have to be ready to change, too. 

This doesn’t mean constantly shifting your value systems to accommodate every new fad, but instead continuously finding ways to stay helpful and relevant. “In oil and gas sales, you have to develop relationships with clients and prospective clients and I have worked diligently from the beginning to give myself the opportunity to succeed,” he said. “Going the extra mile is what has helped me learn the necessary skills to gain a foothold and develop my career.” 

You might see plenty of people coast along in their jobs, seemingly being rewarded for doing the bare minimum (or sometimes not even the bare minimum). However, if you look closer, the real success stories are the ones who are constantly playing the cards they’ve been dealt and finding strategies to take advantage of every opportunity they’re given. 

Sales is a notoriously cutthroat world, one where you don’t always need a lot of qualifications to get started. With all the competition out there, Steve Ziemke found ways to distinguish himself with clients and prospective clients, giving them reasons to trust his word rather than doubt his motives. He’s constantly evaluating new advice about the latest theories on sales and communication. He records himself and plays it back to see how he can improve. As he put it, “Once I have it the way I want, I will adjust to that strategy in a real-life situation and see how I did and how the prospect reacted to it.”

Steve Ziemke on Strategy

There are only so many hours in a day and, regardless of our position or industry, endless to-do lists. No matter how much people want to spin it, there’s only so much that even the most productive people can get done. But Ziemke stresses that this is not a limitation, but rather a resource. His position as executive vice president forces him to be very strategic regarding communication. 

What strategy works best for him? “The one habit that I have always believed helps me be more productive by tackling first a project or a task that is least desirable and the most challenging,” Ziemke explained. “Once I have that finished, I can go throughout the day without that hanging over my head and can focus on the rest of my schedule to be more effective.”

Ziemke also emphasizes that a healthy work-life balance is crucial to success. He’s a family man as much as a business person. “You can work, and you can have fun, but when it comes down to the end,” he says, “it’s really all about family.”

His approach to parenting is always to set an example. If you want to instill the right values, the only way to do it is to practice what you preach. It’s no surprise that Ziemke’s own father was a hard worker, one who was as honest as he was upbeat. “He passed away, gosh, a couple of years ago, but growing up, he was always a hard worker, and he was always fun, and just upfront, and really, family was so important to him, and that helped me,” he shares. 

Throughout Ziemke’s life, he learned to balance all the advice and feedback with his own instincts. This isn’t an easy feat, considering all the noise and conflicting theories and predictions. He values other people’s opinions and makes improvements based on industry changes, but he doesn’t let that shake his underlying positive attitude and professional commitment.