Hope Is Not A Strategy

As Procurious assembles 50 of the U.S.’s most influential procurement & supply chain leaders in Chicago; you’re invited to take control of your career and join us for FREE as a Digital Delegate!

It’s all too easy to find excuses for why your career is not panning out the way you intended. Soft targets for blame include your employer, your peers, your organisation or even your own personal life- challenges for blocking your charge to the top.

You might be a rock star employee who delivered on all your KPIs, participated in “extra curricular” activities, and can boast a strong and supportive network (you even know the CEO!) but it doesn’t mean you’ll be offered your dream role when you think you deserve it!

The Common Denominator To ALL Your Career Problems

When career breaks don’t fall in your favour, you need something (or, even better, someone!) to lash out at. Bosses are always a great starting point, right?

“My boss is useless… emotionally inept…a control freak…”

The list goes on, and on! In fact, our Procurious community tells us there are some significant problems with procurement bosses around the world (we’ll be releasing those survey results in a couple of weeks).

Bosses aside, there are some real structural issues that are impeding procurement pros’ progress. These include super flat organisational structures that don’t allow for upward career progression and serious financial constraints that restrict team sizes and budget for training. These factors have many implications, one of which is that you can’t get away from the office to learn.

But…as I have always said, and will continue to say, the only common denominator in your career is YOU.

If you’re going to get anywhere with your career – you have to take control.

It’s Time To Take Your Career To The Digital Side

In today’s digital world, there is absolutely no excuse for you to not be advancing your career. And it’s no use turning a blind eye to all of the rapidly advancing tehnology developments, in the hope that it won’t impact you. It’ your responsibility to get on top of it!

If your boss’ attitude and organisational structure are thwarting your efforts, don’t keep knocking your head against a brick wall; walk along it, through the side door and into the ether!

Need to learn something? Take an online course. Have a question? Ask your global network of peers in an online discussion group. Need to improve your profile to get that next job? Post your achievements in a strategic way through social media, update your online CV, and connect with influential peers and thought leaders. This is easy…and can all be done from the comfort of your own desk.

It may not be as effective or as stimulating as attending live training or networking events, but when live attendance isn’t possible, eLearning is a viable alternative. In fact, in our recent Procurious survey, 61 per cent procurement pros said a combination of both online and offline was the ideal mix for propelling their career prospects.

The good news is that there is a lot of useful online content and it is only going to get better! Top training providers in the profession are responding to the market by shifting their entire courses into bite- sized units online. And your peers are voting with their feet (or their clicks!)

Procurious has seen interest in online learning grow steadily. There have been 65,000 downloads of the Introduction to Procurement eLearning module and, just this month, more 6,000 procurement pros took part in our online Career Boot Camp. These figures demonstrate the value procurement professionals see in bite-size online learning.

Over five thousand Procurious members visit our discussion board every month to share ideas and offer advice to their peers. And our blogs spark debate, with members feeding their own commentary and ideas into the global community.

This group of Procurement’s Generation Next, are leveraging these online learning opportunities and connecting with thousands of peers around the world, as well as senior executives, thought leaders and CPOs.

Don’t Delay, Start Today!

Our digital Big Ideas Summits, along with all the other networking, discussion and eLearning we have on Procurious, will empower ambitious individuals, from wherever they are in the world, to stay ahead of the curve.

Together we aim to inspire a global generation of procurement leaders, business intrapreneurs, ‘people who can think outside the box’, and challenge them to take a more innovative professional outlook.

By registering as Digital Delegates today, procurement’s rising stars will be able to connect directly with other attendees, access video interviews from our speakers and other educational content– and even receive a digital goodie bag.

Live From Big Ideas Chicago

To register to attend for FREE as a Digital Delegate sign up here.