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Five C‘s of Excellence
In Supply Management
Presented by:
Five C‘s of Excellence
Before we begin our journey into the
Five C‘s of Excellence in Supply
Management, let‘s explore what it
means!
Five C‘s of Excellence
Excellence:
• What is it?
• How achievable is it?
• And do we truly understand what is
meant by excellence? It is something
to which we all aspire, but most of the
time we just settle for less?
Five C‘s of Excellence
The first skill we must consider today, is our
ability to honestly assess not only our
willingness to stick to its ―definition,‖ and
strive for that ~
but also, realistically set our goals in relation
to how we can truly achieve Excellence!
Five C‘s of Excellence
Yes. Excellence is:
―the quality or state of being outstanding
and superior.‖
That‘s right. Not just good, but outstanding. Superior.
A full notch above. Surpassing all others.
Five C‘s of Excellence
We‘re not talking about keeping up, or
doing as well as, or ―that‘s pretty good.‖
No. We‘re talking about performing well
above the crowd of our colleagues and
peers.
Five C‘s of Excellence
I believe that for every purchasing
professional, for anyone, a great starting
place is to take an inventory of where we
stand in the areas of:
• Communication • Being conscientious
• Continuing education • How we handle conflict
• Staying connected
Five C‘s of Excellence
• We need to acknowledge our assets and
our shortcomings and honestly appraise what skills we
may lack.
• We can then assess what it will take in effort, study
and ability for us to acquire them.
Five C‘s of Excellence
Let the inventory begin.
1st C of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
Communication is a connection, an interaction.
It is, in its various forms, our way to exchange ideas,
to ask for something, to banter or make someone
laugh.
It is through communication, we can negotiate, develop
strategy, care for our internal and external customers.
It is, through communication – we coach, we make an impact!
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
When one is skilled in one or several of communication‘s
various forms, all sorts of remarkable things can take
place.
Listeners are inspired. Carefully tendered arguments are
possible. New or oft forgotten ideas get their day in the
sun. People experience a change of heart. Feel
inspired. Or take a stronger stand for or against some
issue.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
How we write speaks volumes.
As with everything, some are more gifted wordsmiths
than others; yet a yearly jaunt through a great little
book, The Elements of Style, will give you everything you
need to effectively and properly use, manage and bring
to life, the written word.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
And then, take your newfound affection for
a well-written sentence, and listen to
yourself as you talk.
You will be as alarmed as I have been on
occasion.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
• We need to develop a discerning ear — and
become watchdogs over what comes out of
our mouths.
• A good idea has a far better chance of being heard
and considered, if it is not dressed in acronyms,
teenage slang and misused pronouns.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
• By its very nature, the profession of purchase
management requires an ability to persuade.
• We need to be able to ask for things right away.
• We need to calm irate customers or inspire the
warehouse team to shelve more efficiently.
We want cooperation. Tireless effort. Results.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
• It‘s true. We cannot expect to achieve departmental
excellence on our own.
We need a team willing to go the distance.
• This is where persuasion comes in — in both the
spoken and written word.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
It takes skill to persuade — which begins of course with
our ability to garner respect from others.
Sure, we can have crafty, creative minds or a kind of
bearing that demands results, but for me, the magic
elixir of persuasion is enthusiasm.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
• Enthusiasm — a skill unto itself. One that requires, at
times, an almost monumental shift in attitude.
• We‘re not often trained to think of our work as
fascinating and fun and from whence all satisfaction
comes. But it can be, in a heart beat, if only we throw
ourselves in, wholeheartedly.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
• Enthusiasm is being willing to awake eager
to go to work.
• And be assured — this kind of can't wait, let's see
how much we can accomplish today, together,
attitude is contagious. Very contagious.
• It is not only capable of rekindling itself in each one
of us, every single day, it can spread like wildfire.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
COMMUNICATION
Let enthusiasm infuse your every written and
spoken word, your every relationship at home,
work and the world, and your every task.
It will give you more energy, more ability to see a
sentence through to perfection, more time to
interact, more punch to persuade.
2nd C of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
We need fresh sources to continue to excel
in our work. We need to push ourselves. To
strive for more knowledge. To hover always
on the cutting edge.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
This is best and only achieved through our
active pursuit of continued education.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Yes, continued education is so necessary, it bears
repetition. For without it, we grow stale, set in our
ways, too certain of our methods, too content with
things as they are. We cling to ―old school‖ ways —
afraid that progress will diminish performance.
Or make things less personal.
You know this — or you wouldn‘t be here!
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
I applaud you for taking the time from work
to attend these monthly meetings.
It is during these meetings that you learn
best practices, what others are doing or
what is or isn‘t working, strive to be the best
of the best in front of your friends!
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
I encourage all of you to seek to wallpaper the walls of
your office with framed professional certifications.
Not only are these certifications indispensable to our
growth and success, just seeing them in one place can
re-ignite hope and courage after a discouraging day.
Not to mention the promotions and increase in dollars
earned that often result.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Most important: we know we‘re pushing ourselves
toward excellence. To being the best, the most trained,
the cut above. An ever-continuing education, through
seminars and certification, gives us more to pass on of
our experience and example.
It is the stuff leaders are made of.
It is the glue of our relationship with our peers.
3rd C of Excellence:
CONNECTED
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
This brings me to the necessity of staying
professionally connected, also known
as networking.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
Conferences such as this are gold mines. Sitting just
a few rows from you perhaps, is the person who in
a conversation tells you about a supplier that
nearly single-handedly changed the way he
looked at his job as a purchase manager.
Or maybe you met someone new that will help you
achieve excellence or saved you money by
sharing their ‗been there done that‘ story.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
We need to connect with all concerned:
our clients, colleagues, and suppliers.
We need opportunities to hear the other side of the
story. To get the feel of the trenches in a business
different than our own. And to see what we can borrow
from another‘s experience. We need friends
in the business.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
It is in networking that we can begin to comprehend
our imprint on others, even hear ourselves quoted by a
stranger at next year‘s convention.
Networking gives us the opportunity to compare our
skills and knowledge and better assess what we need to
learn.
It‘s where we hear about another class to attend, or a
seminar being offered in a city next door.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
With this comes the development of our skills as a
conversationalist, mental note- and business card-taker,
and correspondent.
Do I actually stay in touch, as we said we would?
Do I keep an eye out for the shy first-timer?
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
• Opportunity is so very much the grace of one thing,
one idea, one person met, leading to another.
• Every event contains the story of how we got here;
and in it, the people and circumstances that nudged
us on.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
We never know where we are going to learn the
one thing we really need to know.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONNECTED
Networking is a skill to be nurtured
and cherished.
Networking is opportunity.
4th C of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
Excellence asks much of us, perhaps to be
conscientious, most of all.
It says to us, to excel, you must be thorough and diligent
in the performance of every task. Every task. We must
settle for not one speck less than 100% effort or
customer satisfaction or integrity.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
• To achieve excellence, the people who work with us
and for us must be able to count on us to be as true
as the needle that points to the North.
• And we must able to count on ourselves to stand firm
on the ground and conviction that ―the buck stops
with me.‖ No excuses. No wave of the hand, ―that‘s
good enough.‖
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
To develop our skills as a leader, requires steady,
constant attention to the details; to the needs, attitude,
performance and improvement of those who report to
us.
It is, at once, being able to see the big picture and
everyone‘s role in it. It‘s a jigsaw puzzle; a grand
adventure.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
I believe that we best develop our skills as a leader, and
as a human being, by living and leading others
according to the age-old question:
How would I like to be treated in
this situation?
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
Ahh, the golden rule.
Webster tells us, as does experience itself, that a
―conscientious‖ life or activity is one that is
―governed by or done according to one‘s sense
of right and wrong.‖
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
So. If we live our lives with a primary purpose, such as
the Golden Rule (or serving God), we need never
struggle with the question of ethics.
On the other hand, if we attempt to live without such
a primary purpose, every decision is up for grabs.
We flounder. We hedge. We are easily distracted.
We ignore the still small voice within.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONSCIENTIOUS
• Excellence and ethics go hand in hand — in the
performance of everything that we do.
• If you haven‘t thought about this precious pearl in
a while — do unto others as you would have them do
unto you — give it a whirl.
• I can tell you, it is the fuel of my energy
and enthusiasm!
5th C of Excellence:
CONFLICT
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
A conscientious attitude is a handy thing as well to take
into our next and final skill: handling conflict.
Big topic. A presentation in itself. But I just can‘t resist
passing on a few gems that have been given to me
over the years.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
First of all, handling conflict is nearly
impossible if we believe the common myths
about conflict, which are…
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
MYTH #1:
The presence of conflict is a sign of poor
management.
No. Conflict just is.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
MYTH #2:
Conflict is a sign of low concern for
the organization.
Goodness no, conflict is usually because do care,
very much.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
MYTH #3:
Anger is negative and destructive.
Not necessarily; if dealt with appropriately, anger can
be a fabulous catalyst for awareness and change.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
MYTH #4:
Conflict, if left alone, will take care of itself.
Sometimes; but more often than not, ignored or left
unchecked, it escalates.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
MYTH #5:
The most mythological of all: conflict must
be resolved.
Maybe not. There‘s the big picture to consider. Single-
minded focus on a solution for a particular problem
stifles creativity and possibility.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
There are essentially three stages of conflict.
Think of it. A fire department is prepared and ready to
respond, 24/7, to every possible stage and
characteristic of a fire.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
A stage one conflict (characterized by day to
day irritation)
can be addressed with simple coping strategies:
such as examining both sides, building a framework
that encourages understanding and identifying
points of agreement, to work from and toward.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
A stage two conflict requires more training and
specific management skills, as an atmosphere of
competition has arisen and all eyes are on winning or
losing.
Here you must step in, create a safe atmosphere, have
an agenda, set a slightly vulnerable tone and sit in a
circle. Work as a team and look for middle ground.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
At stage three, intervention is necessary — for by
this time, it‘s no longer about winning, but getting rid
of the other party.
Every position is exaggerated; arbitration may be the
only solution and all parties must agree to accept the
conclusions of the intervention team, or leave.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
And last, but certainly not least, begin to
develop your understanding of the five
styles available to address conflict:
• Integrating • Avoiding
• Obliging • Compromising
• Dominating
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
The integrating approach examines
all differences and encourages
creative thinking.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
The obliging style plays down the
differences and looks for common ground.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
The dominating style says, essentially, we
don‘t have time for this; just do what I say.
Pretty handy when time is an issue or the
matter is not really all that important.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
The avoiding style is simply, don‘t rock the
boat — or let‘s table this for awhile.
Five C‘s of Excellence:
CONFLICT
And the compromising style is taking the
middle road; splitting the differences,
exchanging concessions.
A good approach when all else has failed.
Five C‘s of Excellence
Everything we‘ve discussed today, ties together
in our overall wish to achieve excellence in
supply management.
With every effort we make to assess and improve our
skill levels in each of the Five C‘s of Excellence, we step
that much closer to achieving excellence — to never
having to settle for one speck less than our best!
Five C‘s of Excellence
It is a rich and rewarding way to work and
live. I wish for you one excellent day after
another — and Godspeed.
For a copy of this presentation to use in your
organization, please write me at ~
sharon@sharonmcgee.com Thank you!
Five C’s of Excellence
From Me and My Family in Texas
To You and Your Family ~
Have a very Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!
Be sure to communicate what you are
thankful for!