Effective supply chain leadership has never been more critical. Amid extreme weather, shortages, and geopolitical conflict, these professionals are the heroes guiding global planning, sourcing, and delivery, enabling organizations to move beyond managing disruption and back into a growth cycle.

Interestingly, McKinsey reports that working in supply chain provides an easier path to industry leadership compared to similar fields. Because supply chain functions are highly interconnected and constantly grapple with change and risk, professionals gain superior end-to-end knowledge and forecasting skills that differentiate them in the C-suite. Ascending these ranks is highly rewarding, with top leaders enjoying annual compensation as high as $201,000 plus additional salary compensation.

There are 10 key traits and skills that help professionals move from supply chain management to supply chain leadership. Read on to discover the specific skills that supply chain leaders use to garner the respect and trust of team members and become highly effective:

1. Managing operations requires deep supply chain knowledge acquired from years of practical experience and professional development. A supply chain leader’s experience and knowledge should be both tactical and strategic so they can manage operations while handling risk and planning for growth. Further, more than 20% of companies have a chief supply chain officer, and 38% have a C-suite executive with comparable responsibilities. Members of supply chain leadership need to hone their strategic skills to effectively represent this important business function at the executive table.

2. Managing people starts with identifying potential talent and helping those candidates grow within the organization. This includes supporting on-the-job training and investing in professional development as people progress. Of equal importance is the need to support workers as humans. Employees must be given room to grow. They should be coached on how to fix and learn from mistakes. Benefits such as flexible schedules, paid time off, and remote or hybrid work opportunities support this work-life balance.

3. Great supply chain leaders encourage collaboration and inspire team members to share ideas and workloads. This also means encouraging input from diverse groups to ensure all ideas are respected and considered.

4. Communication is vital to the vision, strategy and expectations that keeps employees updated about progress and changes. This enables followers to support the supply chain function and its key goals.

5. Tensions will arise, so it’s necessary to have the conflict-management skills to handle these issues by staying calm, being a voice of reason, focusing on the positive, addressing the problem and negotiating a resolution.

6. Leaders must not reduce people to their jobs, and this requires emotional intelligence. It's necessary to take the time to understand people’s concerns and challenges, both at and outside of work. Empathy is critical to helping people through challenges. Moreover, leaders should express joy when team members do a good job or reach a goal to inspire them and show that efforts are appreciated.

7. Top supply chain leaders have the foresight to embrace innovation and are early adopters of emerging supply chain technology. This makes them better able to position their organizations to be supply chain leaders rather than followers.

8. Frontline workers have valuable insights, so leaders should use their solid listening skills when employees offer ideas and report challenges. This creates even greater levels of trust.

9. Supply chain management is never stagnant, so quality supply chain leadership relies on continuous learning and growth. This is the only way to meet the needs of supply chain organizations and the people they serve.

10. Truly impactful supply chain leaders are not only dedicated to responsible, ethical business practices, but also inspire the same passion in their people. They seek out solutions that help them create sustainable supply chains; empower their organization to reach its climate goals; and design and manage networks that prioritize the triple-bottom line, delivering profit and excellence while safeguarding society and the planet.

Editor’s note: Some of the information in this blog has been updated to reflect current research and insights. The original publication date was August 2023. 

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