“I’m madly passionate about procurement because I think it’s a hidden gem of the corporate world, and it’s a magical field for problem solvers.” – Natasha Gurevich, Founder and CEO of Candor Procurement
With decades of procurement leadership experience under her belt, Natasha Gurevich understands what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the profession. As Nike’s first ever Chief Procurement Officer, Natasha has also held multiple leadership positions at Salesforce, McKesson, Paypal, Gap, and Visa. Today, she is the Founder and CEO of Candor Procurement.
I was lucky enough to work directly with Natasha over 10 years ago at Procurian, so I was excited to catch up with her again on a recent podcast episode. Natasha’s depth of knowledge and experience as a procurement leader and change agent is a valuable source of wisdom and insight. She was glad to share her perspective on the skills, approaches, and attitudes it takes to successfully fulfill the CPO role.
Here are a few takeaways for aspiring CPOs from that portion of our discussion:
Understand Your Company’s Financial Engine
“Learn very, very deeply and know intimately how your company makes money, because it’s not as simple as it is on the surface,” said Natasha.
Procurement leaders have to dig beyond high-level sales numbers to really understand which products or services are driving the majority of the revenue for the company. While procurement doesn’t have a direct role in sales, they do have to understand how the financial engine of the company works so they can identify where they can be of most value.
“If you know where the company spends money and where the company generates revenue – which is often not the same thing – then you know where you can be of the most help,” she said.
Align Procurement With the Company’s Overall Objectives
Similar to understanding how the company makes money, anyone aspiring to a c-suite or executive leadership position in procurement should be aware of the company’s top-line goals and understand how to align their team to those objectives. Even the most experienced, well-prepared leaders can pull their teams down the wrong path if they fail to do this.
“Even if you’re the most knowledgeable procurement professional,” said Natasha, “if you come to an organization and just create a procurement strategy that is floating in the air and not connected to the company’s or the stakeholders’ objectives, then you have just built a procurement strategy that nobody will be able to follow, implement, or integrate. It won’t generate the results you want.”
In one of Natasha’s previous companies, transparency around goals was such a priority for the business that everyone’s goals, from the CEO to individual contributors, were published on the company’s intranet for everyone to see at any time. This is ideal, she said, but even if procurement doesn’t have that level of insight into the rest of the business, they can still be proactive about making sure their strategies and approaches are working with, not against, the business toward achieving shared goals.
Create The Right Environment for Your Team
Most CPOs are not involved in day-to-day deals or interactions with suppliers. Being somewhat removed from “the work,” as Natasha says, can be challenging when it comes to staying plugged into what’s happening on the ground, but CPOs need to have a clear understanding of the critical role they play in creating the right environment for the team.
“My role as CPO is to take care of the people who do projects to create an environment where the doors are open for them and they are well-equipped with the tools, with a healthy environment, a healthy spirit, and a good environment with their teammates where they can do their work.”
A CPO’s own professional success increasingly depends on their ability to create success for others, which ultimately comes down to good leadership, says Natasha.
“Create an environment for a procurement professional to bring their best self to work, because if they can do that, they will unlock phenomenal potential for the entire company.”
