The Sourcing Hero

Ep 27: Seeing the Forest AND the Trees feat. Lawrence Kane

The last year has been full of ups and downs for most procurement organizations and professionals. While there has been a lot of attention on and interest in what they can do for the company, there has also been a lot of change - especially in the knowledge, experience, and traits found in the most desirable talent.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Lawrence Kane. Lawrence is responsible for Strategic Sourcing Functional Excellence at a Fortune 50 company. As the bestselling author of 21 books, he co-wrote The Contract Professional’s Playbook and contributed to both the Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge and Strategic Sourcing in the New Economy.
In this conversation, Lawrence shares his perspective on:
The changing role of talent in strategic procurement organizations, and how hiring managers can ensure they are bringing in the skills and experience they need most
Learning to work with the business by building influence, constructively overcoming objections, and hearing what the business needs from a message that states what they want
What procurement needs to know about how the company works before they can determine if they are being effective… or not

Ep 26: Exploring the Many Perspectives of Procurement feat. Canda Rozier

There are many ways to look at every situation, and it is often our ability to combine the observations from multiple perspectives that determine our resilience as well as our capacity for innovation.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Canda Rozier, the President of Collabra Consulting. As a former CPO with extensive global procurement and operations experience, she combines a strong track record of business-oriented strategies with engaged team leadership, mentoring, and industry-wide advisory roles. All of these perspectives have given her a robust and well-rounded way of approaching every challenge that comes along - expected and unexpected
In this conversation, Canda shares her perspective on:
How procurement can make good decisions about where to invest their scarce time, whether the decision at hand is about which supplier to partner with or which piece of content to read all the way through
The critical nature of communication skills in procurement, and how our high-level interactions on social media make it a challenge to successfully engage in formal, long form messaging
The reality that heroism does not mean infallibility, and why every leader and hero in procurement has to be willing to fail on occasion

Ep 25: Building Procurement’s Influence Internally feat. Mike Morsch

Most procurement organizations want to increase their internal influence and improve their working relationship with other functions - after all, that seems like the straightest path to opportunity and recognition. So what happens when a procurement team succeeds? What doors are opened and what additional efforts have to be launched? Is increased influence all it is cracked up to be or is it simply a ‘grass is greener’ type of situation? We find out in this conversation.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Mike Morsch. Mike is the VP of Global Procurement and Supply Chain for CDK Global, a leading provider of integrated data and technology solutions to the automotive, heavy truck, recreation, and heavy equipment industries. But that’s not all - he also has responsibility for Real Estate, Repair operations and has led business transformation and M&A transactions.
In this conversation, Mike shares his perspective on:
The difference between a leader’s ‘day job’ and their ‘night job’ and how each contributed to their ability to succeed
His team’s working relationship with finance - including how it was established and the investments he makes on a regular basis to keep a productive dynamic in place
How we should consider and aim to leverage technology as procurement takes on more complex challenges in pursuit of business objectives

Ep 24: The Role of Business Media in the Supply Chain feat. Scott Luton

The volume of business content being created, shared, and discussed every day can feel overwhelming, especially if you are trying to stay on top of best practices and make the most of your professional network. How we choose to spend our scarce listening and watching time is an important decision, and with many (many!) options, each content creator has to find a way to bring unique perspectives and value to their community.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Scott Luton. Scott is the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now where he leads a dedicated team of people who give a digital voice to all of the different people working in supply chain. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, his insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. 
In this conversation, Scott shares his perspective on:
Why it is just as important to understand a professional’s journey as it is to listen to their point of view on their area of expertise
The role of business media in helping individuals and teams deal with the challenges they face on a daily basis - and even outperform expectations
Why we all need to look for and celebrate good news as often as we can

Ep 23: The Doctor is In feat. Karthik Rama

Procurement has been talking about transformation for a very long time - but sometimes they are better talking the talk than walking the walk. And while change isn’t easy, the need for it isn’t going to go away anytime soon. In some cases, it is critical to bring in experienced transformation experts - people who have helped lots of other organizations take their own change journey - to get a realistic and objective look at what needs to be done to help procurement achieve their stated objectives.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Karthik Rama, known to his friends and colleagues as ‘The Procurement Doctor.’ He has made a career out of procurement transformation, spending almost two decades helping organizations from varied industries all over the world generate the greatest possible value from their procurement organizations. He has experience with all of the dimensions involved with procurement transformation, including technology, training, and processes.
In this conversation, Karthik shares his perspective on:
The value of having an objective but experienced ‘outsider’ advise procurement teams before they embark on a transformation journey
What procurement teams have the most difficulty letting go of when the time comes to make lasting and meaningful change
How leaders can balance experience and innovation when building the right mix of team members after a transformation

Ep 22: Learning to Swim Fast feat. Mickey Schulte

When you’re thrown into a new role or find yourself in new circumstances, you don’t have a lot of time to get yourself into position before starting to take action. The more times you find yourself in a new situation, the better you become at learning to adapt on the fly. Learning to adapt quickly can make you a real asset to your company and team. Make that adaptation your strongest skill, and you’ll become a source of lasting competitive advantage - always in demand for the most rewarding roles.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner is joined by Mickey Schulte, Executive Director of the Savvik Buying Group. Mickey has over 25 years of retail and wholesale operations experience, along with a deep knowledge of business strategy, including strategic alliance development, account management, sales, marketing, and human resources. Prior to assuming his current position with Savvik Buying Group, he spent time as a Senior Vice President of Handy Hardware, and is a three-term past President of the Texas Wholesale Hardware Association. 
In this conversation, Mickey shares his perspective on:
The difference between a GPO, buying group, and co-op
How to make sure suppliers have an incentive to be as supportive as they have the ability to
His advice for dealing with product and/or material scarcity above and beyond trying to optimize sourcing projects for price and quality

Ep 21: Learning to Recognize Heroes feat. Dr. Dred Scott and Anthony Clervi

Over the last year, most of us have expanded our concept of what it means to be a hero. From teachers to truck drivers, and grocery store workers to hospital staff, we have plenty of community members to look up to. We’ve also learned that anyone, anywhere, in any role has the opportunity to be a hero to the people around them every day - whether it is in their job description or not.
In this very special episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Dr. Dred Scott, President of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, and Anthony Clervi, Principal at Una, to talk about the importance of heroism in all its forms. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City has been helping at-risk youth for over 100 years. While much has changed during that time, heroes have always been present - sometimes in the form of the adults working at the club, and other times in the children themselves.
In this conversation, Dr. Scott and Anthony share their perspective on:
What adults in all walks of life can learn from the resilience and hope for the future shown by young people
How we can stay calm and centered enough to help others when times get tough and the pressure starts to rise
Why there are so many types of heroes, how we can recognize nontraditional heroes around us, and what people can do if they feel the call to step up for their own community 

The Sourcing Hero | Ep 20: Transformational Change with Mrs. Fix-It

Amanda Prochaska spent years in corporate America leading large-scale transformations. She was doing her thing with MNA integration, technology deployments, and process improvements. She was trying to build and transform procurement into something better. She learned that she loves working with people and helping them expand their horizons. She loves helping businesses with change management and transformation. So in this episode of The Sourcing Hero, Amanda talks about the world of change management, the future of procurement and supply chain, and her mission and vision with Global Women Procurement Professionals (GWPP).