So you want to be an EVP ... : interview with Tim Stratman
Supply chain managers can be excellent candidates for executive-level positions, says executive coach Tim Stratman. But to grab a corner office, they'll need to overcome some stereotypes and their own technical bent.
Susan Lacefield has been working for supply chain publications since 1999. Before joining DC VELOCITY, she was an associate editor for Supply Chain Management Review and wrote for Logistics Management magazine. She holds a master's degree in English.
The supply chain world is a-changin', and the skills you need to be successful today are different from those needed by the guy who sat in your seat before you.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. One of the forces driving these changes is growing corporate recognition of how important logistics, distribution, and supply chain operations are to the organization's success. But as people start to see supply chain management as more of a strategic corporate function and less of a technical specialty, supply chain leaders must step up to the challenge and develop more general business skills.
Tim Stratman is uniquely positioned to provide some perspective on these changes and challenges. As founder and president of Stratman Partners Executive Coaching Inc., he has helped many supply chain executives hone their leadership skills and learn how to develop great teams. He has reflected on and shared those experiences in numerous articles, including the "Career Ladder" column in our sister publication, CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly. He has also shared his insights on leadership while serving as a speaker and leading conference track sessions for organizations like the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Institute for Supply Management, and MIT Crossroads.
Stratman's work as an executive coach and the advice he gives on career development are rooted in his own experiences at printer and digital solution provider RR Donnelley. While Stratman's career did not start in supply chain, he did spend time as a supply chain executive at RR Donnelly, an experience he characterizes as "revelatory." That stint along with his own experiences working with an executive coach inspired his career shift from practitioner to consultant.
Stratman recently discussed the changing skill set needed to lead a supply chain organization today with DC Velocity Editor at Large Susan Lacefield.
Q: Unlike most executive coaches, you spent part of your earlier career in supply chain management. How did you transition from working in supply chain to becoming an executive coach?
A: Well, I didn't start my career path in the supply chain space. I headed up sales and marketing for different parts of [RR Donnelley]. I then went into supply chain and later became a general manager. The supply chain role really came to me.
While working at RR Donnelley, I was asked to rebuild our supply chain team to align more with building integrated strategic partnerships than simply managing "old school" transactional relationships. (There was a lot of dysfunction in the industry supply chain, which created massive inefficiencies for all players.) It was a great experience that ultimately motivated me to open my own supply chain coaching practice. I was surprised at how strategic and challenging supply chain was and how much it taught you about the entire business system.
And yet, on the other side, it's a discipline that has been stereotyped as being purely operational, tactical, and cost-driven. While we all know that supply chain requires analytical and operational skills, success in the top job is heavily dependent on strong leadership skills. The primary credentials are a history of hiring great people, building strong teams, and demonstrating strong strategic skills.
When you talk to executive search guys, they'll tell you they're looking for supply chain executives who have a track record of building strong organizations, demonstrating outstanding leadership, and impacting business strategy. That's why, frankly, when you look at the backgrounds of some senior vice presidents of supply chain, you'll find they're not always supply chain people. Ironically, they often come from other areas of the company.
I think the opportunity for supply chain people is to really embrace this career path, to embrace the general business side and leadership side of the equation with at least as much rigor as they do the technical side.
Q: Could you give some examples of what it means to embrace the general business side?
A: All supply chain people need to be involved in the strategy development process of the business, rather than just sitting on the sidelines. They need to have experience developing corporate-level and business-unit-level strategy. They need to be seen as major players at the table.
They need to look for opportunities to (familiarize themselves) with other areas of their organization. I think that's one of the last frontiers: the concept of moving people in and out of the supply chain function so they can grow. Supply chain for too long has been considered this specialized function that operates behind the curtain. It needs a "coming out party."
Supply chain leaders need to embrace the language of general business rather than the language of supply chain management, which is rarely understood by executives outside the function. That means steering clear of acronyms and technical terms. Speak to business leaders in a language they get, which is generally focused on customers and financial performance.
Q: Do you have any advice for supply chain managers and executives on how to gain the CEO's ear?
A: Get involved in areas outside of supply chain that not only offer you a chance to expand your horizons but also allow you to showcase your own knowledge. Examples might be corporate strategy development or a large change management initiative—those types of things where you don't stay [in your supply chain silo].
The challenge is to hone your general business acumen. Find ways to gain exposure to marketing and sales. Get more deeply involved in operations and sharpen your understanding of the balance sheet and P&L. These are the areas that allow you to communicate with the business leaders in a more relevant and profound way. Business leaders will begin to see you as more well rounded. Your supply chain knowledge, perspective, and experience will be packaged in a more compelling way—one that others can relate to.
Q: Do you think we'll see more people with a supply chain background becoming CEOs?
A: I certainly hope so. We are beginning to see more and more supply chain leaders running businesses. We are also seeing more top supply chain leaders reporting directly to the CEO and playing an active role on senior management committees. Supply chain leadership is quickly developing a reputation as "the place to be."
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.