The Sourcing Hero

Ep 232: ‘Holding the Rope’ on Supplier Risk and Sustainability feat. Dru Krupinsky

Supplier due diligence is one of the most important and impactful activities that procurement leads. Managing risk and ensuring visibility into supplier commitments on sustainability-related business objectives requires constant involvement and careful oversight. These programs depend upon senior-level commitment, but they must also be flexible enough to work across complex, decentralized organizations, and to allow different stakeholder groups inside and outside of the organization to participate. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Dru Krupinsky. Dru is a Senior Manager in procurement at Gilead Sciences. More specifically, he is focused on supplier risk and sustainability, initiatives that all companies are (or should be) increasingly focused on today.
Dru shares his perspective on the conditions required for successful and sustainable supplier relationships:
Recommendations for effective ownership and accountability structures 
The importance of focusing on the quality and accessibility of data
Partnership with key suppliers to manage risk and sustainability jointly
 
Links:
Dru Krupinsky on LinkedIn

Ep 231: Respecting the Challenge of Transformation feat. Ketul Patel

Supply chain transformation isn’t easy. Statistics suggest that 70 percent of all transformations fail and 88 percent stop short of achieving their original objectives.
Compare that to another kind of challenge - like climbing to Everest Base Camp, where 60-70 percent of all people who start the journey make it to the top. Could this possibly mean that climbing Mount Everest is easier than transformation? 
No, says this episode’s guest - but we can take a lot of lessons from why the Mount Everest success rate is higher. For one thing, climbers respect the challenge from their first moment of planning to reach the summit.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Ketul Patel. Ketul is the President of OMIIA Consulting, where he leverages his 30+ years in supply chain to help companies balance strategic intent and operational execution in pursuit of sustainable business success. Ketul is also the author of a newly published book, A Journey of Elevation: Lessons for Business Transformation from Everest Base Camp.
Ketul compares the challenges of extreme climbing and supply chain transformation to offer advice about:
Accepting that progress is not a straight line, and everyone has to agree on a shared definition of success
How to overcome the inevitable obstacles that sit between, “Let’s do this,” and “We did it!”
Why the decision to turn back or change plans should never be seen as failure - or as a matter of ego
Links:
Ketul Patel on LinkedIn

Ep 230: Turning Human Relationships into Business Outcomes feat. Matthieu Garnier

Procurement may just be one of the most social functions in the company. Not only does the team have to interact successfully with the executive team, budget holders, other stakeholders, and suppliers, but they must do so without having authority over any of them. Their relational skills - including communication, negotiation, and influencing - are constantly being put to the test.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Matthieu Garnier. Mattheu has extensive procurement experience, including in the automotive industry, where the results of a negotiation or a relationship are felt long into the future.
 
Matthieu shares his personal philosophy on the humanity of procurement, and why that will make all the difference as the world of business becomes increasingly AI-driven:
The value of investing in a professional community
Why procurement needs to develop their listening skills just as much as their communication and negotiation skills
How to balance being relational with being tough, as circumstances require
Procurement’s opportunity to ‘shine a light’ in the grey spaces that every company must travel through
 
Links:
Matthieu Garnier on LinkedIn

Ep 229: Procurement as a Talent Launching Pad feat. Pamela Gerber

The range of skills and talent procurement professionals need in order to be successful is dizzying, but that also means that they end up being prime candidates for other roles. As procurement professionals deliberately build and add to those skills, they both increase their individual career trajectories and also increase the impact and output of the function.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Pamela Gerber. Pamela is a senior procurement executive with a long track record of working in sourcing and procurement roles across industries. That experience has given her many opportunities to form a perspective on the importance of investing in procurement talent.
Pamela shares extensively with her own personal experience in procurement to offer insight into and recommendations about:
Why it is so hard to establish a talent foundation in procurement
How procurement can build the influence and seniority that will open doors to bigger opportunities
The importance of being willing to seize unexpected opportunities as they present themselves
Whether she sees a trend of people ‘falling out’ of procurement and if she considers that a good thing or a bad thing
Links:
Pamela Gerber on LinkedIn

Ep 228: Procurement Skills That Save Money feat. Philip Ideson

There was a time when the only objective procurement had to satisfy was saving the company money, and the only way to do that was to negotiate tough with suppliers. Today, however, the business’s expectations are much greater - a shift that is raising the bar for procurement professionals in all industries and across categories of spend.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Philip Ideson, Founder and Managing Director at Art of Procurement. They take the opportunity to discuss one of the broader themes we are hearing about in procurement today, and that is procurement skill sets and their connection to business outcomes.
Phil speaks from his own experience as a procurement professional and as someone covering the space through this major shift:
The most important skill procurement can employ while trying to save money and also support the overall business
How changes in the procurement operating model and tech stack are affecting the skills needed on the team
Differences in category strategy and stakeholder groups and how those (should) impact procurement’s approach
Links:
Philip Ideson on LinkedIn

Ep 227: The Power and Sophistication of Payments feat. Brian Goudie

While the options available to consumers may make payments seem simple, the underlying complexity is enough to make small to mid-sized business owners’ heads spin. Selecting the right payments provider can set a small business up for success - by allowing them to do what they do best.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Brian Goudie. Brian is the Executive Chairman at Aurora Payments. By providing secure payments solutions, Aurora has built a portfolio of more than 29,000 small and medium-sized merchants that process $12 billion annually. Brian is also a small business owner himself, so he understands the business challenges his clients are facing first hand.
Brian pulls back the curtain on payments and shares expertise build up over 30 years in the payments space:
How the payment platform has changed, from increased investment and sophistication to the lasting impact of COVID
What small to mid-sized businesses should look for in a payments provider
What makes payments so complex for businesses to manage
Links:
Brian Goudie on LinkedIn

Ep 226: Understanding and Celebrating Inclusive Teams feat. Andrés Tapia

How we think about inclusivity in today’s workforce has a lot to do with how we view diversity. The strongest, most resilient teams take the best characteristics, experiences, and approaches that each individual member has to offer, shine a light on those qualities, and then weave them together into an unbreakable fabric.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Andrés Tapia. 
Andrés is one of the authors of the book The 5 Disciplines of Inclusive Teams: Unlocking Collective Power to Achieve Breakthrough. Andrés was a Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry for 12 years and now leads the Andrés Tapia strategy group.
Andrés speaks about the power of inclusivity and the benefits of teams that continue to grow individually and collectively:
Big picture ways to think about being inclusive in the modern workplace
What it takes to go from a collection of talented people to a truly inclusive team
How every team can become more inclusive than they already are
Links:
Andrés Tapia on LinkedIn

Ep 225: Building a Dynamic Board of Directors feat. James Drury III

A Board of Directors plays a critical role in the success of the company they advise. Ensuring that the right members are on that Board, and that each Board has the right mix of personalities, experiences, and functional knowledge is a significant and ongoing challenge - but one that is worth the effort to get right. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes James Drury III, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of JamesDruryPartners. Jim has over 30 years of experience advising Fortune 100 CEOs and senior executives, and has placed hundreds of leaders on the boards of influential companies. 
Jim shares his detailed experience with - and insights on:
What role a Board of Directors should fill in a company and what their relationship with the C-suite should look like
How much a Board should know about the company’s supply chain
The information a Chief Procurement Officer or Chief Supply Chain Officer might need to prepare in advance of meeting with the Board
Links:
James Drury Partners on LinkedIn