The Sourcing Hero

Ep 104: Leveraging the Power of a Procurement Task Force feat. Harold Hendrickx

With the last few years being as unpredictable as they have been, procurement has experienced a number of mindset shifts - all of which have increased our agility and resilience. In fact, procurement has undergone so many changes that comparisons to the approaches and team models seen in military settings are not out of line. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Harold Hendrickx. Harold is a fractional CPO and the founder of TransExecutive, a company that deploys the Procurement Task Force model to help procurement teams enable, optimize, transform, and rapidly deliver value. He spent 20 years as a senior officer in the Royal Netherlands Air Force and NATO, where he experienced many of the frameworks and models he now applies to procurement.
In this conversation, Harold makes a number of connections between his military experience and what is required of procurement teams:
How procurement leaders can purposefully bring together different people and skills while still fostering trust and cooperation
The investment that must be made in leadership if the associated team is to achieve their objective
His recommendations for procurement leaders and teams who find themselves in unpredictable situations

Ep 103: Seeing Opportunity Through an Executive Lens feat. Jeff Davis

Everyone wants to know what the CEO is thinking. What keeps CEOs up at night? How do they hear the messages being shared with them by different functional leaders and the market at large? This all varies by CEO and is likely to be influenced by their functional background experience, general outlook on macro conditions, and relationships with other C-level leaders.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Jeff Davis. Jeff is the Owner of Bridgestone Holdings, a real estate and property management company with a focus on multifamily apartments - 2,000 doors and counting! Jeff also has experience in global supply chain management, inflation-related disruptions, and changes in consumer demand.
   
In this conversation, Jeff helps us think through how CEOs see the world and why it is so important for supply chain leaders. He considers:
Some of the unique ways that supply chain professionals approach business challenges and decisions
How that compares to (or contrasts with) how other C-Level executives view the world
Whether most CEOs are ‘glass is half full,’ ‘glass is half empty,’ or somewhere in between - and what happens when the CEO is wrong???

Ep 102: Insuring Against Cyber Liability and Exposure feat. Shawn Edgington

‘Digital’ must be one of the most commonly used words in business conversations today. Its usage extends far beyond IT to include nearly every internal and external effort. With so many of a company’s assets and activities being conducted via digital platforms, why isn’t cyber security more frequently included in those conversations? 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Shawn Edgington. Shawn is the Founder and CEO of CoverEase, a digital insurance brokerage that is transforming the way businesses shop for and purchase business insurance and group benefits by providing complete transparency to pricing from fifteen of the top insurance carriers in the country.   
In this conversation, Shawn walks through the risks associated with cyber security and the potential rewards for companies that approach it thoughtfully:
The current state of corporate cyber risk 
Why cyber liability is one of the most under-insured categories of commercial risk
The types of exposure created for companies that do not get ahead of cyber risk
How to ensure against this common type of exposure

Ep 101: Maximizing the Value of Strong Supplier Partnerships feat. Juli Lassow

After all of the turbulence of the last few years, relationships between procurement and suppliers have reached a place of stability - at least for now. And yet, given their experiences, both groups are re-examining what they want to get from their most strategic partnerships and how to make that possible. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Juli Lassow. Juli has spent most of her career to this point focused on the partnerships between companies and their suppliers. She has deep experience in retail and with private label products and can walk the line between negotiating savings and building value-oriented relationships as needed.
In this conversation, Juli shares advice that applies to supplier relationships in all categories and industries:
Her view of the current state of procurement supplier relationships
Whether this is the time for procurement to rethink what supplier partnerships mean, and which suppliers to partner with
How the existence of a deep partnership might alter procurement’s approach to contract (re)negotiation
The benefits associated with remaining curious in conversations with supplier partners 

Ep 100: Marking a Major Milestone with the Masters of the Unaverse feat. Anthony Clervi and Kris Lance

The average podcast only produces 6 episodes before ‘podfading’... and only 10% of podcasts make it to episode 100. To celebrate this special milestone, host Kelly Barner is joined by two ‘Masters of the Unaverse.’
Anthony Clervi is the Chief People Officer at Una. He’s an investor and a natural connector… something you already know if you are connected with him on LinkedIn. Kris Lance is a Senior Director at Una. He is dedicated to improving the client experience by listening first and then pairing strategy and tactics to achieve new levels of performance. 
In this conversation, Anthony, Kris, and Kelly talk about what it means to release episode 100 of The Sourcing Hero podcast and then walk a mile in procurement’s shoes:
What is 2023 likely to be like on a macro level and for all of the procurement professionals and teams facing those conditions?
How procurement can embrace a positive mindset in the face of constant challenges
The importance of connections, REAL connections, and how we might know when we’ve made a meaningful one

Ep 99: Leading Change Through Collective Courage feat. Daniel Oppong

Each person has a responsibility to make sure that all of their small choices add up to the total impact they want to have - on others and on the world. If we can make those choices in partnership with individuals and organizations that share our vision and values, that impact will be magnified significantly. “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives,” as this episode’s guest said during his interview. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Daniel Oppong. Daniel is the founder of The Courage Collective, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (or DEI) consulting and training company founded in 2020. Daniel has multiple founder credits to his name… a journey that I can assure you requires plenty of courage itself.
   In this conversation, Daniel applies his perspective as an entrepreneur, trainer, and coach to today’s diversity efforts:
The type of needs he sees from business leaders and organizations in the area of DEI
How the listening and communication skills of today’s professionals stack up against the challenges they face
What qualifies as a meaningful difference in supplier diversity programs

Ep 98: Turning Ethos Into Action feat. Ian Arthurs

It is one thing to talk about the importance of preserving the environment, and it is another to take meaningful and measurable action to drive change. Corporate sustainability programs are often started in response to consumer demand, but in order to be successful long term, they need backing from innovative, disruptive thinkers willing to blaze new trails. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Ian Arthurs. Ian is the Founder and CEO of Circular.co, a supply chain platform designed to close the gap between supply and demand for recycled goods like plastics. In this role, he is applying his two decades worth of experience with digital platform leadership to solve global sustainability problems by addressing illiquid markets.   
In this conversation, Ian shares his perspective on the potential and profitability of taking a new approach to sustainability:
Whether all of the talk about sustainability is converting into the kind of change everyone hopes to see 
The current mismatch between supply and demand for recycled goods and materials
How it would change economics of material circularity If more companies acted on the demand for recycled goods

Ep 97: No One Climbs Mount Everest Alone feat. Dylan McCabe

When you are starting a new company, it is a challenge to convince customers that they should choose you over their alternatives. When you are also pioneering a completely new business model for your target market, that challenge increases substantially. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Dylan McCabe. Dylan is the Co-Founder of Limitless Roofing, a GPO specializing in commercial and residential roofing materials and supplies. But he and his team aren’t just consolidating demand, they are also building a collaborative community in what has historically been a highly fragmented industry - at least on the buy side.   
In this conversation, Dylan talks about the importance of community - both for his team and for the industry they are working to support:
What he has learned from his ‘go to market’ experience
What the entrepreneur’s (or intrapreneur’s) mindset means to him
The role that community building plays in his go to market strategy and company value proposition