You may wonder why people are so obsessed with change. Change is viewed by many as something positive. Reluctance to change often carries with it negative connotations. Criticisms abound if you are in a minority in the workplace if you speak out against change. If you move forward with change – note I use the term forward, so already it is an implicit assumption that you are backward if you don’t – and this is often the myth put forward to carry out change. Change of course can be good but we need a much more rational approach to think through the consequences of any changes proposed.
Sometimes people in power put forward proposals to change something simply because they can often for a specific interest group and simply because it is a means of being seen to be doing something active rather than not doing anything. I have been around long enough to witness a great deal of change some of it for the better and some of it worsening matters. You know you have been in an organization too long when they are changing things that you remember being changed so many times. It is sometimes hard in these situations to stay silent or to maintain your equilibrium without prejudice. When you witness change that did not change anything to make things better. When you witness change where some self-seeking, self-serving promotion hungry person puts forward change to place them in the frame for greater things. Then they get promoted and move out of the organization before the proverbial hits the fan. So if you are one of those that is sceptical about change you are probably right to be.
It is always necessary to look for the MMO as the crime thrillers say. Motive, means and opportunity (MMO). If you do not wish to be brushed aside by the whirlwind of change that will necessarily engulf the organization you will need some critical thinking skills and ability to marshal facts that prove the change is not the path to Nirvana that is promoted by the ‘Young Turks’ pushing self-interest. You also need to muster fellow sceptics into a coherent force for resistance. This is political! I have never worked in an organization that wasn’t even if it appeared so on the surface. As Plato noted the world of appearance is different to the world of reality. Of course it comes down to how far you feel able to push back. If you are on your own it is probably not a good idea. The best idea would be to look for new opportunities outside the organization. On the other hand if you think the change will worsen things for everyone it may be worth fighting for. You will need strength, resilience, self-belief, support and political skills to navigate the troubled waters ahead.
Sometimes we cannot resist change just as Canute could not push back the waves there are times when change is inevitable. In these circumstances we need to adapt to survive and thrive. Human beings are good at doing so. It is one reason the species has survived endless change in 4 million years or more. Can we learn wisdom from what philosophers tell us about change?
‘The measure of intelligence is the ability to change’
– Albert Einstein
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new”
– Socrates
Listen to Chain Reaction – All Change to find out more.
When you get the invitation to the ‘C’ Suite it is something you worked for, you may feel worthy and you hope you will now be rewarded for your business experience, organizational and leadership skills developed during your career. Those things may have qualified you and opened the door to the office of CEO but your future success will rest on results not the attributes that others have acknowledged in appointing you. However, it is worth reflecting and acknowledging all may not always be as you had imagined. There will be times when you wish you had protective clothing similar to the photograph to protect you from the outside world which can be a hostile environment. It may not just be the outside of course sometimes threats come from within your own organization. So what are the responsibilities that accompany the invitation into the ‘C’ Suite strategy room?
Leadership is defined by results not attributes.
Peter Drucker
CEO’s Responsibilities
The Chief Executive heads up the ‘C’ Suite. The ‘C’ Suite is comprised of the Board of Directors responsible for running the company. The CEO leads and the directors direct. The Board are paid to manage the business on behalf of shareholders and they balance the needs of other stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers and wider public interests. The organization’s culture determines how this works in practice. For example, is it top down or collaborative but no mistake the CEO has the ultimate responsibility for the company meeting its objectives. Responsibilities come in the form of leading the organization and all that means. There is no hiding place. Every decision will be scrutinised, analysed and criticised, it goes with the territory.
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.
Warren Bennis
The CEO is responsible for leading, developing and executing organizational strategy and achieving the goals set. Organizational effectiveness, efficiency, profitability and return on investment are three concerns for those occupying the ‘C’ Suite. As Warren Bennis put it “leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”. It is a skill developed through experience.
Between 70-90 per cent of a company’s assets are tied up in the supply chain. If you work in or are responsible for your organization’s supply chain it is likely to represent much of the Balance Sheet value. Fixed Assets can include warehousing, production, handling equipment, plant and machinery including delivery vehicles, cranes, fork-lift trucks, ships and in some cases aircraft. Inventories on many company balance sheets represent somewhere between thirty and fifty per cent of the value. When you add it all up you will see why the supply chain contains a lot of the value and it all needs to be managed to achieve the company’s strategic and operational objectives. Supply chain pro’s come in all shapes, sizes, from different backgrounds with a range of skillsets. Having the ability to communicate effectively in written and spoken word along with numeracy and analytic skills will establish a good foundation for the future. Today roles carried out in the supply chain provide an excellent training ground to learn about business. Forget the MBA as a stepping stone to a leadership career learning on the job may be more valuable especially if it is in the supply chain. If you know about sourcing, procurement, production operations, warehousing, distribution and customers then you have acquired a range of transferrable skills that might take you all the way to the ‘C’ Suite and even to CEO.
You may think about acquiring formal qualifications on the job as part of your continuous professional development while you get paid. Staying in touch and keeping abreast of competitors demands a commitment to continuing professional development (CPD). CPD can take many forms and it is not just the formal qualification, short and long course routes that matter. Learning from others inside and externally, keeping up with trends and as any sporting professional will tell you there is no substitute for real game time by which I mean experience.
Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you.
Aldous Huxley
Supply chains are a source of value, cost and differentiation. When Michael Porter first wrote about competitive advantage I doubt he was thinking necessarily about supply chains although he did introduce the term value chain to the world in 1985. The term ‘supply chain’ was only coined in 1980 and did not come into wider use until much later. Nevertheless, supply chains are the central focus for many businesses wanting to achieve competive advantage. It is easy to see why it covers every stage from sourcing through to delivering the goods and services to customers. Supply chains are the central spine of most organization operations embedded in wider networks creating value for supply chain partners and customers. I once read that if you wanted to move to senior roles as a supply chain professional you needed to talk the language of finance – ROI, Profit Margins, Asset utilization and less so about fill rates, returns, backhauling, work-in-progress, fullfilment, stock-outs, back-orders, purchasing and sourcing. The truth of it is like most things in life somewhere in between. Isn’t it about time that the the ‘C’ Suite occupants were able to speak supply chain? Understanding the organization’s supply chain offers the capability to understand the business and potential sources of competitive advantage. Well the good news is that some do!
Many people on the Board of retail businesses, FMCG and manufacturing companies have spent some time working in the supply chains of businesses where they cut their teeth. The skills are transferrable and could take you on a journey to the ‘C’ Suite and even to CEO. There are a number of notable CEO’s with previous when it comes to supply chains including Tim Cook at Apple, Alan George Lafley at Proctor and Gamble, Tom Hayes at Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. and Mary T. Bara at General Motors. This experience has proved invaluable when they step up into leadership roles. It has a number of benefits that include respect from the workforce knowing that you are one of them cut from the same cloth, know and understand the detail of what makes the business tick, and the skills you learned performing supply chain roles not only informs what you do but also helps identify capabilities and competencies that the organization requires. Flexibility and agility are not just supply chain concepts they are necessary to think, plan and guide an organization to a future position. Experience of teamwork and development roles on the way up will prove necessary at the top to move the business forward. Supply chain pro’s have a lot to offer when it comes to being the CEO.
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