The Sourcing Hero

Ep 115: Building a Legacy of Leadership feat. Ret. Lt. Col. Oakland McCulloch

Leadership is easy to talk about, but hard to do. Every leader impacts the people around them - whether positively or negatively - so this week’s guest suggests making a decision from the outset what kind of leader you want to be, and why you want to lead.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Oakland McCulloch. Oak is a Retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army, who shares his perspectives on leadership, vision, and discipline through keynote speeches and his book, Your Leadership Legacy: Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be.
 
In this interview, Oak talks about the practice and calling of leadership:
What makes a good leader and why leadership is a privilege
What distinguishes ‘servant leadership’ from other forms of leadership
Particular advice for leading teams through times of change
How we can all become better leaders - and where to look for support

Ep 114: Creating a Difference in Sustainable Packaging feat. Cory Connors

As goods move through the supply chain, the amount of packaging that moves with them is mind boggling. Efforts to increase operational sustainability are gaining steam worldwide, which means that what that packaging is made of and what happens to it after a delivery has been made are of greater concern than ever before.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Cory Connors. Cory was one of the First 100 to go through the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator program, and now he is a member of the LinkedIn Podcast Academy. Cory is also the host of the Sustainable Packaging podcast, where he welcomes industry experts to discuss ways to make packaging more sustainable.
 
In this interview, Cory shares his knowledge about leading packaging innovations:
When I think about sustainable packaging, my mind instantly goes to recycling corrugated cardboard… but I’m sure it is much bigger than that. What other materials come up frequently in your conversations with experts?
How sustainable packaging intersects with corporate sustainability/ESG efforts
The metrics and KPIs used to measure improvements in packaging sustainability?
Whether sustainable packaging costs more, the same, or less - especially given a total cost of ownership approach

Ep 113: Learning to Work Side-by-Side with ChatGPT feat. Joshua Palacios

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Joshua Palacios. Josh is a Senior Sourcing Manager at Ro and according to his LinkedIn profile he “refuses to be overlooked due to his work ethic and achievements.”
 
Josh connected with The Sourcing Hero team in a very unique way… he is a regular listener and had the creative idea to ask ChatGPT what a Sourcing Hero is. Here is what it said:
 
“A sourcing hero is like a Jedi master of strategic sourcing, skilled in the art of identifying cost-saving opportunities, negotiating contracts, and managing supplier relationships. They possess the ability to manage complex sourcing projects while aligning strategies with business goals. With exceptional communication and negotiation skills, a sourcing hero can triumphantly navigate the ever-changing sourcing landscape, bravely facing challenges with their team to conquer the unknown. In short, a sourcing hero is a strategic superstar that saves the day, every day.”
 
In this interview, Josh talks about the different ways procurement professionals can put generative AI - like ChatGPT - to work for them:
How procurement teams can apply technologies like ChatGPT 
Whether ChatGPT can function as a sounding board to develop category strategies
His advice about procurement skills investments given the growing capabilities of tech

Ep 112: Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough People Do feat. Kris Lance

The costs of poor physical and mental health are all around us. Despite having the highest per capita spending on health care in the industrialized world AND the highest health care spending as a percentage of GDP, the United States has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and the highest death rate from COVID-19. According to Gallup, “Nearly one-fifth of U.S. workers (19%) rate their mental health as fair or poor.” 
 
This is a crisis that affects us all.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.
  
In this conversation, Kris and Kelly share their thoughts about the importance of physical and mental wellbeing:
How our physical health can cross over and impact our mental and emotional wellbeing - and vice versa
The role that stress management plays in each person’s ability to be successful at work 
Common sense practices that may improve physical and/or mental health (listeners won’t believe Kris’ second piece of advice!)

Ep 111: Taking Intelligent Risks feat. Mark Trowbridge

We’ve all been mired in years of paralyzing risk and disruption… but could risk taking be just what this moment calls for? Yes - as long as the risks are ‘intelligent risks.’ 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mark Trowbridge. Mark is an experienced procurement leader with a broad area of focus including sourcing, supply management, contracts management, supplier relationship management, risk management, and inventory management. He is also a published author and speaker whose business travels have taken him throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Malaysia, and the Middle East. 
In this interview, Mark explains what ‘intelligent risks’ are and how procurement can prepare themselves to take them:
The important role that data, insight, and research play in procurement’s ability to decide if risks are intelligent or not
How procurement’s relationships with suppliers can either allow them to or prevent them from taking intelligent risks
The culture of accountability and continuous learning that has to exist for intelligent risk taking to thrive

Ep 110: Telling a Business Story Beyond the Numbers feat. Christian Frantz Hansen

Procurement has been working to build stronger, more partnership-based relationships inside the business, and yet we still struggle to maintain trust. Fortunately, we are not alone on this journey… other functions, finance in particular, struggle with the same.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Christian Frantz Hansen. Christian works at the Business Partnering Institute, where he helps clients (most of whom are in finance) improve the strength of their business relationships. Procurement listeners will be pleasantly surprised at how many things procurement and finance have in common.
   
In this conversation, Christian talks about everything from mindset to ‘positive surprises:’:
Why it is so hard for different functional teams (like finance, procurement, HR, etc) to work collaboratively
What an effective internal business partnership looks like
Whether it is possible to hold people accountable and also earn (and keep) their trust
How to make sure we present information in the best possible way to each unique audience

Ep 109: Delivering Exceptional Value Through Business Relationships feat. Heather Fotch

When someone asks you to define ‘trust,’ what comes to mind? Words like safety, confidence, and dependability are likely to rise in your thoughts. Trust in business is based on the same empathetic human principles as it is in our personal lives, and yet building close relationships in a professional capacity remains a challenge for many people in different functional roles.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Heather Fotch, a.k.a. The Toner Queen. As the Founder and CEO at Quality Imaging Solutions, you may know Heather for providing a concierge approach to indirect spend reduction and cost avoidance on printer toner cartridge supplies, consumables, and hardware… or you may simply recognize her well-crafted professional brand. Either way, Heather stands out.
 
In this interview, Heather discusses what she has learned about getting stakeholder buy-in from her years of experience working with procurement in a sales role:
The challenges that procurement and sales professionals (surprisingly) have in common
How to build close working relationships without sacrificing authenticity or being overly aggressive
What a solution-oriented collaborative approach looks like
Whether ‘exceptional civility’ is an approach that procurement professionals should learn more about

Ep 108: Considering the Transparency and Control of Digital Currency feat. Kris Lance

The banking system has been in the news quite a bit recently, and not for good reasons. Everyone has learned a lot about the liquidity and transactions that make the financial system - and our economy - work. Two initiatives that have received far less coverage are FedNow and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), both of which raise important questions about the role of regulation in banking and payments.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Kris Lance, Senior Director at Una, for a recurring monthly conversation about current news stories. Kris has experience in multiple industries and has his finger on the pulse of the trends and topics that procurement, sourcing, and supply chain professionals need to be aware of.
  
In this interview, Kris and Kelly discuss FedNow and CBDCs and ask some of the big questions that don't yet seem to have answers:
Whether the federal government is working with or ‘against’ large banks in rolling out instant digital payment capabilities
The ‘retail option’ which would allow individual consumers and small businesses to bank directly with the government 
How transparency can lead to increased control, sometimes good and sometimes not