285: A Procurement Compendium w/ Peter Smith

Having the opportunity to reflect back on a successful career in its entirety is a gift, and in “A Procurement Compendium”, Peter Smith shares that gift with the whole procurement community. From being found by procurement (either because he could play tennis or because he was lousy at sales), to his time as a consultant and then 8+ years with Spend Matters, he’s experienced nearly everything. Peter shares stories from his career that capture the things he’d done differently. He wishes he’d insisted upon having better talent. He would fight for the budgetary resources to get his team the resources they needed. He would be less cautious and spend more time connecting on a personal level with fellow executives. In this conversation, Peter talks about: · The importance of competition and the dangers of supplier dependence · Why procurement is not in decline (yet) · What new CPOs should do to succeed early on