Three weeks ago my husband had a sudden major medical crisis. 

Although the long term prognosis is positive, the weeks have been filled with ICU’s in three hospitals, and multiple surgeries.  And, sitting in hospital waiting rooms and by a bedside has given me plenty of time to think – about life, priorities, and yes, even procurement.

I have been struck by the similarities between a personal crisis and those which impact a procurement leader.  By definition, a crisis is not planned or expected; but statistically, in the scheme of big numbers, crises will occur, and most of us will have to deal with them both personally and professionally.  And, how we deal with these events is actually pretty similar for those that affect us personally and at work.

As I’ve gone through the last few weeks, often panicked about the uncertainty of the situation, I’ve realized that my approach to dealing with the personal crisis was in fact almost the same as how I have dealt with business ones throughout my career. 

Everyone’s way of dealing with unexpected issues is, of course different, and will vary to some degree based on the specific situation.   But, here are some of the points that have resonated with me.

Prepare for the unexpected

It sounds contradictory, but you really can prepare for the unexpected.  I’m not suggesting that we are clairvoyant, but there are usually foundation steps that can be taken simply as good practice for most things. 

Just as you should have access to insurance cards, power of attorney documents, etc. in the event of a family medical emergency, there are steps that a procurement leader should routinely have place.  These can include contingency plans for your supply chain, business continuity plans for staffing, workflow, and critical processes, and robust contracts and relationships with essential suppliers.

Trust the experts and have a team

The old adage that it takes a village to raise a child is very apropos for both personal and professional crises.  It takes a team to manage through critical events, and you shouldn’t wait until the crisis occurs to figure out who that team is comprised of. 

Within minutes of arriving at the hospital, there was a (large) team of medical experts involved.  The hospital knew who to bring in (in the middle of night no less) from a shocking (to me) number of disciplines.  And of the next few weeks that team was honed and grew in reaction as the medical situation evolved.  It was immediately apparent that the team, and the escalation paths were well documented and established. 

Likewise, procurement leaders need to know which experts need to be involved in crisis scenarios, and to whom and when escalations should occur. 

Depending on the situation, these may include company executive management, legal, finance, governance/risk/audit, security, and, of course, business stakeholder leaders.

Determine the priorities

Not everything is, or can be a priority.  The team of experts will be able to determine what the priorities should be, and how to approach them. 

You need to focus on the priorities at hand before worrying about future issues.  (Believe me, this is hard to do!  Human nature makes us worry about a multitude of ‘what if’ scenarios, most of which will not happen and may actually distract you from focusing on what is most important.)   

The same is true in the professional setting.  You can’t solve all the issues at once, and often the steps you should take need to be linear.

Accept that some things are out of your control

This has been the hardest for me to deal with personally. 

For the first week, I was trying to “take control”, and I was constantly frustrated that the timelines and resolutions were actually not mine to make.  Although at some level, a procurement leader is in control, and needs to be the point of leadership, it’s not absolute.  In fact, the more you trust the experts and embrace the team the easier it is to accept that you, as an individual leader, are not necessarily in control (or at least not in total or unilateral control).

Conclusion

My hope is that none of you have to deal with a personal crisis, and yet most of us will at one or more points in our lives. 

And as procurement leaders, it’s not a matter of if we will have to manage a crisis event, but rather when and how.  My “revelations” may not resonate with everyone, but I hope you find even a small take away in my observations.