Authority is granted by the organisation; credibility in strategic supplier relationships is earned separately. Teams read what their leaders tolerate on the practice within organisational leadership far more accurately than what their leaders announce. They gain the ability to sequence improvements to this aspect of organisational leadership in an order their organisation can absorb. What blocks progress on strategic supplier relationships is usually unclear ownership rather than unclear intent. It is written for people who have to make the wider organisational leadership agenda work with the resources they already have. Every module pairs a short input on this strand of organisational leadership with structured practice on the participant's own material. This programme builds strategic supplier relationships from first principles, without padding and without omitting what matters. Comparative studies of the organisational leadership discipline across sectors find the same handful of failure points recurring. The programme closes with an action plan for the organisational leadership capability that each participant writes for their own organisation.
Expected Learning Outcomes
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Diagnose whether a problem in strategic supplier relationships is one of design, resourcing or discipline.
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Review your own performance on strategic supplier relationships as rigorously as you review others'.
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Distinguish the parts of strategic supplier relationships that must be standardised from those that require judgement.
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Manage the emotional load strategic supplier relationships places on you and on the team.
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Judge when to escalate strategic supplier relationships and when to absorb it.
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Communicate the reasoning behind strategic supplier relationships, not only the conclusion.
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Define the scope and boundaries of strategic supplier relationships so that responsibility for it is unambiguous.
Who Should Attend
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Founders and owner-managers formalising strategic supplier relationships as the organisation grows.
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Consultants coaching leadership teams on strategic supplier relationships.
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High-potential staff being prepared for wider responsibility for strategic supplier relationships.
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Project and programme managers whose success depends on strategic supplier relationships.
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Training and development staff building internal capability in strategic supplier relationships.
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Officers preparing reports on strategic supplier relationships for boards or oversight committees.
Course Modules
Open any module to see its sessions and topics.
01
Strategic supplier relationships: building the bench and letting go
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1The cost of strategic supplier relationships and how to present it
Identify your successor for strategic supplier relationships and the gap they need to close.
Ask the team what they think is wrong with the plan for strategic supplier relationships.
Test whether the team can explain strategic supplier relationships in their own words.
Check that records of strategic supplier relationships answer the questions likely to be asked.
Session 2Reading the room before proposing strategic supplier relationships
Identify the conversation about strategic supplier relationships you have been postponing, and schedule it.
Set the review point at which strategic supplier relationships will be reconsidered.
Verify six months later that changes to strategic supplier relationships have held.
Rank the weaknesses in strategic supplier relationships by consequence rather than by ease of fixing.
02
Strategic supplier relationships: delegation, trust and accountability
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Testing strategic supplier relationships before relying on it
Set out how exceptions to strategic supplier relationships are requested and approved.
Rehearse the briefing on strategic supplier relationships that would follow an incident.
Identify which function can quietly block strategic supplier relationships and address it directly.
Confirm that the people affected by strategic supplier relationships heard it from you first.
Session 2What your team concludes from how you handle strategic supplier relationships
Reduce the variation in how strategic supplier relationships is carried out between teams.
Agree the standard on strategic supplier relationships and confirm it applies to everyone.
Set the decision rights on strategic supplier relationships: who decides, who is consulted, who is told.
Prepare the response for the most likely failure in strategic supplier relationships.
03
Strategic supplier relationships: deciding under pressure and incomplete information
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Recovering after a visible mistake on strategic supplier relationships
Review a past decision on strategic supplier relationships and state honestly what you would change.
Review whether strategic supplier relationships is aligned with the objectives of the management team.
Decide what you will delegate on strategic supplier relationships and what you will not, and say why.
Build the competence framework that supports strategic supplier relationships.
Session 2Moving strategic supplier relationships through people who do not report to you
Decide the point at which you would escalate strategic supplier relationships.
Write down the assumptions underpinning the approach to strategic supplier relationships.
Establish what evidence demonstrates strategic supplier relationships is under control.
Define acceptance criteria for strategic supplier relationships in advance.
04
Strategic supplier relationships: resilience and the personal cost of leading
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Getting other functions to support strategic supplier relationships
Collect evidence on the present handling of strategic supplier relationships before proposing changes.
Agree the indicators that will show whether strategic supplier relationships is improving.
Set escalation thresholds for strategic supplier relationships that work out of hours.
Map the handovers in strategic supplier relationships between functions and secure them.
Session 2Delegating strategic supplier relationships without abandoning it
Write down the reasoning behind your position on strategic supplier relationships.
