What are professionals with a Vested frame of mind looking for as they place their Christmas stocking on the fireplace mantle this year?
Here are some of the items I hope Santa will seriously consider leaving for procurement, outsourcing and supply chain professionals to prepare them for the post-Brexit, new-Globalization, and Trump World eras:
- A Collaborative Spirit: Well of course I start with this! We’ll need collaboration with our partners, friends and even frenemies now more than ever to navigate an uncertain and volatile world.
- Trust, Honesty and Transparency: These are toughies because it’s hard to know who to trust, who is honest and who is willing to be as transparent as perhaps you are willing to be. My advice: take a lesson from classic game theory and take the initiative to take the first step. Someone has to go first. Make it you!
- Flexibility, Patience and Resiliency: While these qualities are always needed, they are really needed in spades now and going forward with all of the global changes we are seeing. But this needs to be more than feel-good talking points or sound bites. Rather, think about how to embed these crucial concepts in your governance frameworks.
- Integrity: Will you and your strategic partners be able to maintain your integrity when all around you others may abandon it in favor of economic and political expediency?
A tall order for Santa indeed! Sturdy stockings are needed.
Happy Holidays!
Image: Stockings by Ann Ames via Flickr CC