The Sourcing Hero

Ep 160: Leadership Advice from the Battlefield to the Boardroom feat. Tom Williams

Few environments require leadership in higher concentration than the military. And yet the development of leadership skills is still a highly personal journey - where each individual has to find their own style and improve it over time through training, observation, and repetition.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Tom Williams. Tom enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2013 as an Airborne Intelligence Analyst. He has served in locations from the Middle East to the Arctic, displaying exceptional dedication and forming his own unique philosophy on leadership.
In this interview, Tom shares the lessons he has learned about leadership while serving as a member of the U.S. Army:
How to be recognized as a high-performance contributor
Some of the core things good leaders do that make them memorable
How people can train themselves to become better leaders
Links:
War Forged Leadership

Ep 159: All Travel is Personal feat. J. Grant Caplan

It goes without saying that travel has changed since the pandemic - although not in the way most of us might assume. There have certainly been adjustments to logistics and expectations, but, most of all, companies are doing a better job of recognizing the wellness considerations intertwined with business travel, and finding purposeful ways to accommodate their travelers without onerous increases to the budget
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes J. Grant Caplan. Grant is the President of Procurigence, a managed travel consulting and conference resource firm specializing in optimizing spend. He is a relationship driven professional who finds a natural fit in a role that requires calm heads and an emphasis on hospitality.
In this interview, Grant shares his extensive experience as a managed travel consultant and active road warrior:
A brief ‘state of the state’ of business travel
How the role of internal travel manager changed along with corporate perspective on the best use of travel
Why travel policy is just as important as planning and logistics
How meetings spend is unique from overall travel
Links:
Grant Caplan on LinkedIn

Ep 158: All Eyes Should Remain on the Red Sea feat. Kris Lance

Human nature has a way of becoming numb to that which we absorb as part of the status quo. Sadly, this doesn’t just pertain to the weather; it also applies to human suffering and warfare, especially if it is far away. Today this applies in the form of the Red Sea attacks that continue,  and which have escalated, turning global supply chains into a literal battlefield.
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 month’s discussion, Kris and Kelly talk about how continued instability in the Red Sea will affect us, and our supply chains, close to home: 
Why challenges in the Suez and Panama canals serve as proof that all people and businesses need a “Plan C”
How it should change our perspective on the Red Sea as a geopolitical hotzone to know that ships are being sunk and people are losing their lives
Why we may all be about to get the call to stand up and serve as Sourcing Heroes
Links:
Kris Lance on LinkedIn
Subscribe to “The Sidekick”
Episode 154: The Sourcing Hero Gets a Sidekick with Kris Lance
Episode 150: 2024: The Year of the Dragon? with Kris Lance
Episode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris Lance
Episode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris Lance

Ep 157: Telling a Compelling Procurement Story feat. Alex Ball

Marketing requires a combination of data and storytelling to motivate people to take a desired action, whether that is making a purchase, supporting a cause, or providing their email address. Procurement can leverage a marketing-esque combination of information and storytelling to build consensus, increase influence, and even control the narrative when plans go awry. 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Alex Ball. Alex has spent most of his career in marketing and demand generation, helping companies connect with and engage their target personas. He has also had the opportunity to work with procurement and has seen some ways that his marketing knowledge can be applied inside of companies to increase procurement’s influence. 
In this interview, Alex applies his experience in marketing to some of the most common situations and challenges faced by procurement:
Sharing information beyond the numbers to better represent procurement’s true impact
Winning over skeptics and new team members to the advantages of working with procurement
Adding healthy self-promotion of procurement’s internal messaging without coming across as arrogant or boastful
 
Links:
Alex Ball on LinkedIn

Ep 156: Accelerating the Data Feedback Loop feat. Emilie Schario

In 1748, Benjamin Franklin wrote “Time is money.” All of the changes and advancements we have seen in nearly 300 years have not managed to render that advice obsolete. Certainly, time has inherent value (whether measured in dollars or otherwise), but time can also cost money - through delays, misalignment, and poor decision making.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Emilie Schario. Emilie is the Founder and CEO of Turbine. A data engineer by training, she is now applying her skills to the supply chain space. Emilie has seen the difference that shortening the data feedback cycle can make, whether in marketing or inventory management. 
 
In this interview, Emilie illustrates some of the ways that time continues to be money for today’s businesses, and how speeding up data can be a source of savings and value:
Why typical business processes can lead to information delays of almost 2 months
What accelerating the data feedback loop allows decision makers to do
One of the top things that surprises most companies about their own spend
Links:
Emilie Schario on LinkedIn

Ep 155: Don’t Get Fired feat. Mark Grieco

“Victory is about meaningful connections.” - Mark Grieco
 
Procurement professionals constantly find themselves in a tough spot, multiple cost and non-cost based objectives to hit, stakeholders to appease, suppliers to wrangle with, and that is just the beginning. They’re also finding ways to do all of the above in a work environment where we have less in-person access to their colleagues.
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Mark Grieco. Mark has a very unique background: he is a procurement attorney and educator, accustomed to being in the trenches with the procurement team. In that capacity, he has had the opportunity to observe a number of development opportunities - associated with contracts and otherwise. 
In this interview, Mark shares what he has learned while training,mentoring, and working side by side with procurement teams for years:
How procurement should handle situations where they have all of the responsibility and none of the decision making authority
How the working from home / flexible work trend has hindered personal and working relationships
Why everyone needs to find joy - and feel pride - in the work they do every day
Links:
Mark Grieco on LinkedIn

Ep 154: The Sourcing Hero Gets a Sidekick feat. Kris Lance

“People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.”
Isaac Asimov
 
After 3.5 years and over 150 episodes, it had to happen eventually: The Sourcing Hero now has a Sidekick. This sidekick may be a monthly newsletter, but it is no less ready to fight the good fight than Robin, Chewbaca, or Dr. Watson.
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 talk about “The Sidekick” - Una’s new procurement newsletter: 
What inspired him to start writing a monthly newsletter in addition to his regular visits on The Sourcing Hero podcast
Who The Sidekick is written for and what readers can expect
Some of the content features that will be included in each month’s edition
 
Links:
Kris Lance on LinkedIn
Subscribe to “The Sidekick”
Episode 150: 2024: The Year of the Dragon? with Kris Lance
Episode 145: Looking Back and Looking Ahead with Kris Lance
Episode 142: 2023 Listener Favorites with Kris Lance
Episode 138: Procurement Out of This World with Kris Lance

Ep 153: Finding Purpose in Procurement and in Life feat. Paul Nilsen

Meeting a new friend
To ponder the color of
Unripe bananas
Paul Nilsen
 
Talking to heroes
Who earn their hidden capes while
Loving procurement
Kelly Barner
 
Ikigai is a Japanese philosophy focused on finding purpose and meaning. The parts of the word are “iki” which means “alive” and “gai” which means “worth.” Given how much time procurement spends thinking about value and worth, their personal and professional choices should absolutely make them feel alive.
 
In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes Paul Nilsen. Paul is the Director Of Procurement at Douglas Elliman Real Estate - and an avid reader. Paul recently shared a book he was reading on LinkedIn and sparked both an interesting online discussion and this podcast interview.
In this interview, Paul talks about Ikigai and how it comes into the decisions he makes as a procurement professional:
How the concept of Ikigai resonates with him at this point in his career
Ways we can each exert greater influence on our own professional journey
Whether it possible to connect what we like to do with what is really needed in each situation
Links:
Paul Nilsen on LinkedIn