In today’s episode we are going to talk about the common goals and challenges that women in the Function face. Find the show notes on my website at PowerYourImpact.com/1.

After 20 years in Procurement & Supply Chain I made the decision to launch Power Your Impact, a Leadership Coaching & Strategy Business designed to help women in Supply Management elevate their leadership impact.

I give credit to my 25-year old daughter who one day said to me “I know you love what you do, but are you following your passion”? Following my passion?

I had never thought about my passion!

It was with this prompting that caused me to take a pause and reflect. After much soul-searching, I realized I wanted to dedicate more time to helping other women in the Function.

In order to best understand the common goals and challenges that women in Procurement & Supply Chain face I interviewed a diverse group of Executive women from the Function:

•All levels of Executives
•All major Industries
•5-20+ years in the Function
•20% Women of Color (Black, Asian, Hispanic)

95% of the interviewees were women I did not know as I wanted to get the straight talk.

The results showed 4 common themes:

Challenge #1: Navigating a Male Dominated Field
Challenge #2: Changing the Perception of the Function
Goal #1: Building a Strong Talent Pipeline
Challenge #3: Reclaiming Time for Self

The results may not surprise you, but what may surprise you is the degree of commonality:

100% of the women identified the first 2 themes
Over 75% identified the 3rd theme
Over 50% identified the 4th theme


Here are 6 specific comments that these women shared:

1. “There are no tools to navigate unconscious bias, particularly from the supplier base”.

In many companies there is training and procedures to address internal harassment; should there be similar tools and processes for external harassment?

2. “Women don’t raise their hand for the challenging assignments unless they check all the boxes”.

Do women fear failure more than men?

3. “I didn’t elevate my concerns when facing unconscious bias because I didn’t want to be perceived as a complainer.”

Should any level of unconscious bias be acceptable if it makes you feel uncomfortable?

4. “The Function has a stigma of being a support function and not a strategic enabler”

How can leaders more effectively package the total value proposition that the function contributes?

5. “Supply Management is not a destination Function”

How can leaders build awareness about the impact the Function drives to the bottom line?

6. “Women carry a larger load both at home and in the office”

How can women lighten the mental load and free-up time for self?


If any of these comments resonated for you, know that you are not alone.