How To Tell The CEO They’re Wrong (Without Getting Fired)

This pandemic has completely challenged the way we do procurement. So how do we keep up the fight for positive changes?

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In our recent What Next? The Great Procurement Reset survey, you said the pandemic forced your companies to look beyond cost savings. 

So, how did this all play out? Largely, you told us that it meant a major shift to onshoring, increased focus on sustainability, and developing a more diverse supplier base, to name a few. 

But once the pandemic’s effects have faded, what will happen to your strategies? Some of you were concerned the changes won’t stick. 

“My worry is in three years when this is behind us, any program implemented as a result of COVID will probably lose its funding to new emerging threats/opportunities,” one respondent wrote.

Another said: “90% of the supply chain will go back to normal. Overseas manufacturing has existed because of the cost advantages. Bringing everything home will not help commercially.”

So, what did procurement get wrong?

CEOs and top procurement teams learned some painful lessons, that’s for sure. But some of the challenges got Procurious thinking … where did our thinking lead us astray?

For one thing, our mindset on sustainability needs to change. While only 7% of What Next? survey respondents said that sustainability needed to become a priority area for review in order to help gain cost savings, the market is telling a different story, as new generation consumers are leading the revolution to stop purchasing certain brands because of ethical or sustainable concerns. 

Our research also showed how much procurement is rethinking the technological promise out there to mitigate future risks. 35% of survey respondents didn’t have the tools to respond fast enough to the rapidly changing circumstances of the pandemic, which appears to directly correspond to the surge of interest in predictive analytics and machine learning (over half of the respondents believe these tools are potential solutions now).

Undoubtedly, these are big areas of business operations to tackle, and decisions about implementing them post-pandemic tend to come from the C-suite and the top. Some teams are facing pressure from the C-suite to revert to pre-pandemic strategies, but it doesn’t have to be this way. How can you keep up the fight for positive changes, especially if they seem to fly in the face of company profitability?

Understand your CEO’s vision

When you look at things from a CEO’s perspective, it’s a different view! After all, CEOs get paid to be unrealistic, said Lucinda Newcomb, Chief Product Officer at WW (Weight Watchers). It’s their job to focus on company growth, although there will undoubtedly be processes and issues that come up against that big picture.

The key is ‘managing up’ – using your influence to affect change at all levels of your organisation. And yes, this can be done even if you don’t have the most senior job title!

“If you cannot manage up, you cannot manage at all.”

Andrew Hill, Financial Times Editor

It starts by aligning your vision with senior leadership – learn the overarching company goals, and how your procurement strategy drives company-wide success.

Procurement always needs a finger on the pulse, and as the What Next? report states – it’s more important than ever for procurement “to be connected with what is happening up and down the supply chain […] to stay connected to the data and remain vigilant to change and agile to respond.”

How do you start to take action?

One approach is looking at the “four stakeholder theory of leadership”, said Ellen Kullman, CEO of 3D-printing company Carbon and board member at Goldman Sachs. 

If your CEO is too focused on shareholder returns, they’re missing all the other important levels that contribute to ongoing company success. So, you need to show them how procurement strategies make a difference at every level.

By making products your customers love, keeping employees actively engaged, and engaging communities where you operate by being good citizens, your shareholders will benefit.

Psst! Need some stats to back up your strategy? The answers you need are in the What Next? research report! It’s bursting with stats like this: at least 40% of survey respondents will shrink their supply chain to rely on local suppliers, and remain more agile. Are you joining the local procurement movement?

Build your reputation

In addition to hard stats, you need soft skills for maximum influence. The word ‘soft’ is misleading, though; these skills are absolute career rocket fuel.

“85% of your job success comes from soft skills.”

Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center, 2016

In the What Next? survey, we saw that these soft skills also translated to strong supplier relationships during the pandemic.

And don’t worry if you don’t see yourself as a natural influencer. Most soft skills can be taught, and you may already possess more than you realise. People who are drawn to the procurement profession tend to have soft skills like these:

• self-awareness 
• empathy
• resilience 
• appreciation of simplicity
• boldness

After all, the art of managing up is really just a negotiation process, said leadership consultant Mike Krupit. “If you can manage up and make your boss look and feel good in the process, they’ll be more likely to listen to your counsel the next time around,” Mike wrote.

Couple these with a reputation for delivering excellence, and you’ll be unstoppable, said Ellen Kullman, CEO of 3D-printing company Carbon.

“Have a high ‘say-do’ ratio,” Ellen Kullman advised. “So if you say you’re going to do something, do it. And if you do it, do it well. I had a reputation for saying what I was going to do and getting it done.”

Pick your timing

So, you’ve got your killer stats lined up, and you can prove exactly how your procurement strategy directly supports company objectives.

Now all that’s left to do is present your position to the people in charge.

So how do you do it?

Start by being ridiculously prepared, said Rob Apatoff, an Executive Director at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. “You should be ready at a moment’s notice to talk concisely about whatever it is you want to share,” Rob said. “Having your priorities straight and information at the ready demonstrates a level of competency and professionalism that CEOs remember down the road.”

“I over-prepare for everything I do. People mistake that for confidence.”

Barbara Cororan, serial entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor

It’s true. You never know when your chance may come. It could be a more formal setting like a speaking slot in a senior leadership meeting. Or it could be a literal elevator pitch. 

So start by gathering some friendly (yet honest!) colleagues around you, said Anne Sugar, Executive Coach at Harvard Business School Executive Education.

“One of the easiest ways to pressure test your ideas is to have a trusted peer debate and poke holes in your ideas before you meet with your manager [or CEO],” Anne wrote for Fast Company. “Similarly, consider building bridges with other managers or peers to help you pre-sell your ideas.”

Managing up can seem intimidating, but it’s an important skill that will influence your team’s perception of the organisation (not to mention your career trajectory!). Like this Procurious article said, “Ensure your team is driving a big-picture, growth agenda and impacting the top line of your business – not just protecting the bottom line through savings.

“You can start creating smarter business outcomes by leading the rest of the organisation instead of responding to it.”

Enjoyed your sneak peek of the survey results? Want to see even more? Join us for the global What Next? The Great Procurement Reset webcast today! Hear Procurious Founder Tania Seary and an all-star panel of industry experts reveal how you can thrive in your career and team during this great procurement reset.