June 11, 2012
Having had the opportunity to travel the globe and speak in front of audiences of all sizes, one of the most interesting points of commonality was the the response I would receive whenever I asked the question “how many of you in the audience fell into purchasing as opposed to consciously choosing it as a […]
June 1, 2012
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to sit in on some roundtables at the Corporate United Synergy conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. The majority of attendees were strategic sourcing and procurement professionals primarily focused on indirect spend categories, many at companies with $1 billion or more in annual sales. The underlying theme of most […]
May 24, 2012
It is no secret to my regular readers that I am not a big fan of Oracle’s Larry Ellison. The origins of my disenchantment go all the back to the vendor’s early days when Ellison was forced to lay off approximately 10 percent of the company’s workforce due to questionable accounting practices. Specifically Oracle sales […]
May 22, 2012
“You know, at one time there must have been dozens of companies making buggy whips. And I’ll bet the last company around was the one that made the best goddamn buggy whip you ever saw. Now, how would you have liked to have been a stockholder in that company?” Comment made by Danny DeVito in […]
May 17, 2012
NOTE: The following article was original posted on May 16th in the Remarkable Leaders Blog under the heading “Life is no longer sweet in the executive suite and its impact on your career (Part 2 of 2).” Nido Qubein, who wrote my introduction to Customize Your Career, SAID: “If you want to have success and […]
May 14, 2012
Okay I admit it that when for example JPMorgan Chase fired Ina Drew (the bank’s chief investment officer) because of massive trading losses, I did not shed a tear for the high powered executive. After all, we are all to varying degrees sick and tired of the abject greed of many of these power brokers. […]
For a Taste of Your Whiskey, I’ll Give You Some Advice by Kelly Barner
June 14, 2012
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Good old Kenny Rogers, he gave us some great advice through the lyrics of the ‘The Gambler’: advice that stands true beyond the gaming table. Sometimes the best advice comes from the least expected place, and I have some advice for procurement professionals – from sales. Every week, I take a break from supply management […]