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By Etsko Schuitema
In October 2026, the Schuitema Human Excellence Group formally re-engaged with the Pakistani market. In one sense, this is a relaunch. In another, it is simply the continuation of a relationship that never really ended.
We first began working in Pakistan more than two decades ago. Over those years we worked with many organisations. More importantly we formed relationships with people who became much more than clients and colleagues.
Two years ago, for a number of reasons, we decided to wind down our active involvement in the market. It seemed, at the time, that a chapter had come to an end. But there is an interesting thing about genuine relationships: they do not necessarily obey commercial decisions.
We remained connected to a number of Pakistani friends. Those relationships endured when there was no immediate business reason for them to do so. Over time, this began to suggest something to us. Perhaps Pakistan was not a market we had left. Perhaps it was a community with which we still had something to do. That possibility became much more concrete through the work of our colleagues Maheen and Shama Mohamed. They have been presenting our Personal Excellence programme in Karachi, and the response has been extremely encouraging.
What interested us particularly was what happened after the programme. Delegates did not simply say that they had enjoyed the experience. Many wanted to go further. They began asking what personal excellence might mean for the organisations in which they worked. That question lies at the heart of our work. Personal Excellence is fundamentally concerned with intent: with the shift from living primarily on the basis of what one can get to living on the basis of what one can give. Our work on organisational culture starts at precisely the same point. A healthy culture exists to the degree that people come to work prepared to contribute rather than merely extract. The bridge between personal and organisational excellence is therefore shorter than it initially appears. This is why the response in Karachi matters to us.
People were not merely interested in another programme. They were asking how a change in the individual might change a team, how a change in the team might affect leadership, and ultimately how leadership might transform an organisation. These are precisely the questions that have occupied us for many years. At the same time, another connection with Pakistan has been strengthening. Increasingly, aspects of our online business development have been undertaken with Pakistani colleagues, particularly Mustafa Rizvi. We hope Mustafa will play a leading role in the development of our Pakistani business, working alongside Maheen and Shama, whom we intend to establish as our principal delivery representatives in the country.
There is therefore something rather different about this return. We are not arriving in Pakistan as strangers looking for a market. We are returning to relationships that have survived our absence. Nor do we intend simply to export something from South Africa. Our intention is to build a genuinely Pakistani capability, led increasingly by people who understand both the principles of our work and the context in which those principles have to be applied.
Perhaps that is what makes October significant.
Twenty years ago, we went to Pakistan to do work. This time, we return because relationships have called us back. And perhaps the most worthwhile enterprises begin exactly there: not with the question, “What can we get from this market?” but with the much more interesting question, “What can we contribute?”
Want to learn more about how the Personal Excellence? Leader your team with greater purpose, strengthen organisational culture, and unlock potential? See: www.schuitemagroup.com
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