Are you ready to make a move if an opportunity comes your way? For Ann Carter, Vice President of Purchasing and Supplier Management, being prepared is the key to advancing in your career.  Ann provides insights about why soliciting feedback is so important and offers actionable advice on best practices for collaborating with purchasing and how to solve complex challenges.  This interview provides so many insights you will want to listen to the very end!

8 Best Practices to Implement in Your Career and Business

1. Use emotional intelligence - ask for feedback.If you feel there are obstacles in your way, it is important to ask for feedback and learn from it.  Listen to the feedback, coarse correct where you can be successful and remember to stay authentic to who you are.  Ann recommends to "go for it, don't look back and don't let ethnicity be a hindrance."
2. Be honest when you find you are stuck.It is important to remember you are the first person who can implement a change.  Talk to other groups across your organization, share your interests and be sure to let your boss know what you want to do.
3. Considering a pivot - your skills are transferrable.Ann made several career moves and she shares how leadership, analytical skills are all applicable in different roles.
4. Include face-to-face contact for global teams.  Ann shares at the heart people are the same no matter where they are located. In addition to using video technology, there is no replacement for in-person connections. 
5. Collaborating with purchasing should include these 3 things:
   1. Get purchasing involved as early as possible in a project. Remember that purchasing are stewards in selecting 3rdparty vendors and there to help.
   2. Make sure there is a clear definition of what it is you want. What is the product and service you need.  Ambiguity makes the selection process difficult.
   3. Understand supplier selection is a process. It starts with selection and interview suppliers that have the right services and then choose the right partner.
6. Purchasing is an integral partner of an organization especially when natural disasters strike. Ann tells a great story about how her company formed a SWAT team to fly supplies to Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria.
7. Be prepared for opportunities to come your way. Plan where you want to go and be ready for the chance to make a move.  If you take too much time to decide the role may go to someone else.
8. Leadership means having faith and being eager to learn. As long as you are learning, the experience will follow.

Favorite resource-"Leading at the Edge"by Dennis Perkins, Margaret Holtman and Jillian Murphy.  There are 10 leadership principles and the one she likes the best:

"Never give up-there is always another way." Ann Carter.

If you would like help with leading teams or any of the content covered in this interview, reach out to me, I love to hear from you!

Thanks as always to Christy Haussler and Team Podcastfor editing this episode.