The Sourcing Hero

Ep 62: Raising the Eyebrows of Procurement’s Stakeholders feat. Cedric Watlington

Procurement has to have equally effective technical capabilities and relationships building skills, but the business needs to meet them halfway. If both sides can connect in a place of mutual trust and mutual gain, the possibilities are limitless. If, however, there is no trust, there will always be a gap between what the business wants and what procurement can do for them.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Cedric Watlington. Cedric is an experienced procurement and sourcing manager with a specialization in technology spend. He is proud to be a continuous learner with an extreme ownership mindset and an operational problem solver. His proven track record of sourcing results includes creating value in the form of savings and supplier innovation.
In this conversation, Cedric shares his perspective on how procurement and the business can both take steps to improve their relationship on behalf of the business:
His approach to building a procurement-business partnership
Whether the “constructive feedback” procurement often receives from the business is deserved and how we can improve their perception
The role of company culture in procurement’s approaches and relationships
How the business could make it easier for procurement to support them 

Ep 61: The American Dream Campaign: Connecting Veterans with Opportunities feat. Paul Lawrence

There are many types of organizations looking to assist veterans as they transition out of service. The federal government and state agencies play a role, but so do nonprofits and corporations. Ironically, the trouble faced by most veterans is not a shortage of information, but an overabundance of resources to go through.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Paul Lawrence. Paul was a participant in the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator program with Kelly earlier this year. He is a ‘veteran helping other veterans,’ an advocate that advises nonprofits and businesses about Veteran issues. As a former senior leader at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, he has a unique perspective on the challenges organizations face working with and for Veterans, and uses that insight to help organizations serve Veterans successfully, efficiently, and cost effectively.
In this conversation, Paul talks about some of the challenges veterans face and what he has learned about how individuals and corporations can support them:
What he learned by interviewing people working to help veterans during the 11 weeks of his Accelerator-based American Dream Campaign
A surprising insight about service and giving back that he heard from veteran-owned business still in startup mode
The kind of approach procurement professionals need to take if they want to be seen as enablers rather than roadblocks

Ep 60: Make v. Buy in Procurement Tech feat. Sean Sieper

‘Make v. buy’ is a classic business decision - one that procurement often helps the business evaluate for their own needs. But what about procurement’s own needs, especially in the area of technology? It may be that there is an opportunity for added value and control that procurement has been overlooking.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Sean Sieper. Sean is the Director of the Indirect Center of Excellence at Retail Business Services, where his team provides services to the nation’s fourth-largest retail group, including omnichannel grocery brands Food Lion, Giant Food, The GIANT Company, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. He has experience in private brands (i.e. store brand) product sourcing and logistics as well as indirect sourcing.
In this conversation, Sean shares his point of view on the benefits of building custom technology in-house:
When procurement should consider a ‘make’ option for their own technology
The types of talent procurement needs in house to execute this effort successfully
How choosing this route and acquiring the talent required to support it may affect procurement’s relationship with IT
What parts of building a solution procurement should NOT be willing to attempt

Ep 59: Life Hacks for Driving Employee Engagement feat. Ashley Sieb

There are so many demands on everyone’s time, energy, and attention, that trying to get colleagues to engage in a project can feel like an uphill battle. And while driving engagement requires more of an active effort and more preparation than many people may realize, it is certainly not impossible!
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Ashley Sieb. Ashley is a creative, energetic marketing and communications specialist who knows her way around procurement. She also knows how to get - and keep - people’s attention… and then (to use her personal mantra) “find a way forward” that works for everyone.
In this conversation, Ashley shares her tips and perspective on how anyone can drive higher levels of engagement from different types of audiences:
The components of her personal model for driving engagement: the REAL model
Whether all personality types are equally effective at doing what needs to be done to drive engagement
When and how engagement and communication are the same, and when communication is a channel for driving others’ engagement

Ep 58: Thinking in Contractually Mature Terms feat. Jeanette Nyden

Procurement may think of contracts as dusty old stacks of paper to be filed away or stuck in a drawer - but they are not. The combination of complex events we are all witnessing - a pandemic, war in eastern Europe, skyrocketing inflation - may not have been predictable, but they are a test of our current supply agreements. And as much as we are consumed with them right now, these conditions will not last forever. Supply agreements must be designed to bend and flex but not break if companies want to be resilient. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Jeanette Nyden. Jeanette is a contracts and negotiation expert who regularly uses her skills to bolster those of buy and sell-side contract professionals. She specializes in performance-based and outcome-based customer/supplier relationships, and has written four books on the subject.
In this conversation, Jeanette shares her expertise in legal and procurement to answer these key questions for the times we are working through:
Why it is important to understand ‘fixed fee agreements’ given today’s inflationary environment
The contract clause types procurement should be looking for or adding to contracts as a way of dealing with inflation
How procurement should respond (with business input, of course) if a supplier seeks to change the price in a fixed fee contract

Ep 57: Turning Ideas Into Reality Through Procurement feat. Magda Theodate

Although most people accept that innovation is a good thing, we likely think about what it means very differently. Some of us hear a silent “digital” before the term, even though there are sources of innovation that extend far beyond the world of technology. In other cases, innovation just feels like change - and that may or may not be a pleasant experience. But, as this week’s guest tells us, it is not procurement’s job to accept the status quo.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Magda Theodate. Magda passed the Bar and became a lawyer before starting a career in procurement. Then she combined both capabilities by working first as a procurement legal consultant at the World Bank’s Africa Region, then as a procurement officer in its General Services Department. She went on to have quite an international career and has continued to specialize in public sector procurement, focusing on the importance of essential governance for developing nations.
In this conversation, Magda speaks frankly about innovation, both from a global perspective and from the perspective of professionals in procurement:
Why global procurement professionals might see the government as an essential player in digital innovation even if North Americans do not
Whether procurement knows what innovation is / looks like / means
How we can prepare ourselves to be ready for what real innovation entails
How our perspective on risk might hold us back from innovating
The skill sets, experiences, or dispositions best position someone to lead innovation

Ep 56: Collaborating with IT to Support the Business feat. Barry Rogers

For procurement, the effort to win over the business is a continual effort - one that is unlikely to ever be complete. And now that eCommerce and app-based home technologies have been broadly embraced, every distributed buyer in the enterprise thinks of themselves as an expert in IT and procurement. Is it possible for procurement to suggest otherwise without complicating those relationships?
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Barry Rogers. Barry is the Senior Manager of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at New Relic, Inc., and his experience with IT procurement runs deep. He has worked for tech companies and around technology spend and suppliers for years - developing a valuable point of view.
In this conversation, Barry talks about how the business perceives procurement through the lens of their personal consumer experiences:
The expectation/alignment challenges created between procurement and the business because technology is so ‘easy’ to buy
How risk and compliance with data regulations enter into his work in the IT category
Ways in which procurement can partner with the business to improve the results of their planning process

Ep 55: Applying Procurement Where the Business Happens feat. Jeff Bever

Rather than just focusing on that old ‘seat at the table’ longing, today’s procurement professionals have a range of options for where to direct their skills and energy. Whether it is having the right conversations with the right people in the business, or leveraging their ability to solve problems collaboratively while applying time-tested category expertise, there is no substitute for truly capable people. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Jeff Bever. Jeff is the Senior Director of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Mars. He has over 20 years’ experience working as a transformational senior procurement executive across multiple industries. Most impressive is that he has managed to lead forward progress on efficiency, cost, and quality while also building an empowered team of people that are inspired and motivated by each other and the work that they do.
In this conversation, Jeff leans on his incredibly diverse procurement background to provide inspiration for how procurement can continue to drive individual and team evolution:
What procurement needs to change about their mindset if they want to better align their work with overarching enterprise priorities
The importance of having the right conversations with the right people to drive desired outcomes
How the approach to building and developing talent has to change to enable the current stage of procurement’s evolution