Key Highlights
- Edwards, who now teaches seniors and students in the supply chain MBA at the University of Tennessee, shares advice from his years on the ground as a supply chain leader.
- Attitude matters, as does building a career and being open to gaining experience on the plant floor.
- How do you accept feedback as a new leader, and how should you present yourself in your day-to-day work?
- Mentors are important. What makes a good mentor, and where do you find one?
Since I retired as chief operating officer of La-Z-Boy Inc. a few years ago, I began a second act: teaching in the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee, in the supply chain department specifically. I teach mostly seniors and students in our Executive MBA program.
Frequently, students will ask me for career advice. I have witnessed what has worked well and what hasn’t for people entering the supply-chain profession.
So, whether you’re a new supply chain graduate or maybe an experienced employee entering the supply chain space for the first time, here are some bits of wisdom to help you with the transition.
Build a Plan
Supply chain leaders by nature are planful strategists; we like structure and order. Maybe better said, we like efficiency.
To efficiently increase your early career success, have a plan. List your career goals for the first year and your objectives for assimilating successfully into your supply chain role. In a widely cited study on goal setting by Dr. Gail Matthews, “you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams simply by writing them down on a daily basis”
Maybe you have a goal to be assigned to a project to gain team building skills or to take an executive education course in an area you want to improve? Regardless of your career objectives, put your goals on paper, set timelines for their achievement, and review and access them frequently.
Attitude Matters Most
Most companies will hire and promote aspiring leaders who collaborate well and are good team players with a “can-do” attitude. Of course, you must possess basic managerial and leadership skills, but having a positive attitude goes a long way. Standout qualities could include always coming to work early or typically being the first to volunteer for a necessary but unglamorous project; you get the idea. Companies promote attitudes.
When I led global supply chains, I had great patience with anyone who worked hard with the right attitude. But occasionally new leaders struggle with receiving constructive feedback, as none of us enjoy hearing we need to improve. My suggestion is to try to put the feedback into the proper context: it’s not personal, it’s just business. Your boss wants to help you help the company. Additionally, if you listen carefully and work on the areas she suggests, you will likely improve your job performance and improve your working relationship with your boss too. A win–win.
Take a Line Job
Most of my early roles within supply chains were in manufacturing plants. I remember how impressive the corporate office seemed to a young guy who visited a few times a year. I felt the people that worked in those offices must be so important and successful. In fact, they were, but what I didn’t know was how important my plant operations job was, too, my line job.
My office environment was a shop, a workspace where we made things, and sometimes it was loud, a bit dirty and far less glamorous than “corporate.” As I reflect now, my plant jobs turned out to be one of the greatest gifts of my career. They taught me how to connect with people, how to work in teams and what it’s like to part of something great that is bigger than any one person.
These skills are critical if you aspire to lead within a supply chain. It’s unlikely you will be able to land a significant corporate role in supply chain leadership without having also worked a line job.
So, don’t be afraid to take a job in a warehouse, a factory, or in a logistics hub; it will help accelerate your supply chain career.
Know the Business
It’s OK if you don’t know all the specifics of the business when you start a role; as a new leader, you’re not expected to. That doesn’t give you a free pass not to learn it, and quickly. Refine your skills in areas you understand but aggressively throw yourself into supply chain functions where you are weak.
Know the numbers, work to understand lean concepts, study procurement and strategy; all the fundamentals. Be intentional about knowing the business.
Find a Mentor
One way to accelerate success in your new supply chain role is to find a mentor. Partner with a person who’s had a successful career with the company and is willing to help a new leader find their way. A mentor can help shorten the cultural learning curve and help you navigate the company “landmines.” A mentor is in the unique position to offer advice on what to do—and most important, what not to do. That person can help you develop the right questions to ask and advise you on your career plan.
Gaining a mentor is a gift; be sure to thank them for their support.
Deliver Results
The end goal of any business is to make a profit. Many companies want to contribute to the greater good and leave a favorable legacy to society, but all these things, while honorable, require profit.
Whatever the task, you must be prepared to deliver results and work to develop a reputation for doing so.
Yes, there needs to be a healthy blend of under-promising and overdelivering, as you don’t want to gain a reputation as a “sandbagger,” but a big miss on the upside is better than a small miss on the downside. Reputations are built early in a career, and once built, they are hard to change.
Parting Thoughts
As with any worthy initiative, begin your supply-chain leadership career with intention. Don’t leave anything to chance, and early on, work at it diligently. Over-index on your career strategy, work hard at all you do and do it with a positive attitude.
When given an opportunity, leave the corporate office and take a line job, and if you’re not asked to do so, volunteer to take one.
Make it a priority to understand all the metrics and key drivers of the business. Keep asking leadership about them until you really know the business. And when in doubt about anything new, strange or concerning, be sure to ask your mentor about it; mentors are invested in your success.
About the Author
Darrell Edwards
Darrell Edwards is an assistant professor of practice in the Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee. Prior to joining the UT faculty, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at La-Z-Boy Incorporated, the nation’s largest producer of reclining chairs and one of the nation’s largest providers of home furnishings.
Edwards has over three decades of deep global operations and supply chain experience, delivering significant value within consumer product industries. Edwards was a named executive officer (NEO) who led the global operations and supply chain for La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s Branded Business totaling in excess of 9,000 employees.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Correct Craft Corporation in Orlando, Florida, and Rival Holdings in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Moreover, Edwards has been recognized as an award-winning global leader, having led numerous business units to achieve national and global recognition for operational excellence. His interests are focused in leadership, business strategy, executive coaching, team building, and process innovation. He is a frequent guest speaker at various national forums, and authored articles in several business trade publications.
Edwards holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Fox School of Business at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a master’s degree in global management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona.