XX & XY: A Different World in Supply Chain
The deserts of the southwest sprawl below me as the plane ascends from San Diego. It is such a very different landscape than the green mountains of my farm in West Virginia or my city streets in Philadelphia. It appears SO barren from my window in seat 4D.
It has been a good week. I now have a working manuscript for the entire book of Metrics That Matter. Writing this book has been like a black cloud hanging over my head. Working on it, and completing the writing while managing a start-up, has been tough. But, then I have never been one to shy away from a challenge.
I jeopardized the release date of the book by taking an extra three months to finish the Supply Chain Index work. The book is now 98,482 words and eight chapters. It is a fictitious story of a guy named Joe that does not want to be an average. He is trying to figure out the answer to these questions:
Since supply chain can be a bit boring, I made it into a narrative. In the story, Joe and his leadership team work together to learn the answers to these questions through a series of strategy days.
Writing a book is a bit daunting. Definitely a labor of love, I have pored over digital pages on my laptop for many days. It is tough to write on airplanes. During the process, I have flown more than 120,000 miles. On the journey, I have lost five wireless mice, used over six reams of paper, and damaged three laptops. It is hard to write on the road, but I am now down to final editing. So, as my plane takes flight today, I breathe a bit better and walk a bit faster. A milestone is completed. It is time for reflections.
Reflections
Yesterday, in the middle of completing charts and graphs for Chapter 7 of the book, I facilitated a webinar for Kinaxis. The topic was on mentorship and sponsorship of women in the workplace. When the offer came across my desk, I did a Marmaduke moment.
This was me when I was asked.
Why, I thought, would Kinaxis be interested in doing a webinar on women in supply chain? In my opinion—it is a very biased opinion, I admit—the role of women in the workforce in supply chain has come sooooooooooo far during the time of my career.
Today, based on our studies, women compose about 43% of the supply chain workforce. I was on the cusp of the transition. I was a first generation female pioneer. When I went to engineering school at the University of Tennessee in 1974, there were two women in my class. I still remember the professor throwing down my Statics and Dynamics midterm test on my desk with a red “D” on the top and asking to see me after class (90% of the class had failed, and none of my male classmates were asked to stay). The follow-up conversation was not pretty. He basically told me that women did not have the ability to be engineers. This was a story that he did not recount when he quietly laid the final test with a red “A” on my desk at the end of the term.
The Webinar (see video above)
At that time, my friends and I felt that we needed to deny our femininity to be accepted in the workforce. It was a hard battle fought with grit, determination and chagrin. The stories were poignant. It was before the days of sexual harassment policies, but not before sexual harassment. Being female in an all male world was difficult. It would was not the world that fathers would wish for their daughters. Several of my friends ended up in therapy with an identity crisis.
Not me. I was just so busy fighting the fight that I forgot to enjoy the journey. Tough as nails and focused, I plunged ahead. There were many years that I just could not let myself feel anything. But yesterday, as I put my manuscript to the back of my desk at the Omni hotel in San Diego and took a break to facilitate this webcast with a panel of four wonderful women, I took time to enjoy the journey. I heard advice that I wish someone had shared with me on my journey:
All of the panelists shared that the world today is a very different place for women in supply chain. It is their belief that the opportunity is with filling senior roles; and in this regards, they were not sure that the supply chain roles are that different from other senior roles. The facts as the panel sees them: there just are not enough senior women sitting at the boardroom table. I agree.
Summary
So, as I look from my window, and look at the desert below, I smile. The workforce today, for female supply chain leaders, is no longer a barren, hostile landscape like the view stretching beneath me on my way back home. For that, I give thanks. Paving the way was hard. I am glad that I survived. However, I am thankful that other women will not have to face the hostility and unforgiving world that I persevered in. It was tough. I am glad that it is behind me.
It is almost midnight. I am now landing. It is a new day. I will start it with a smile. I refuse to not enjoy this last part of my journey and I hope that you will join us at the upcoming Supply Chain Global Summit.
About the Author
Lora Cecere is the Founder and CEO of Supply Chain Insights, the research firm that’s paving new directions in building thought-leading supply chain research. She is also the author of the enterprise software blog Supply Chain Shaman. The blog focuses on the use of enterprise applications to drive supply chain excellence. Her book, Bricks Matter, was published in December of 2012.
Supply Chain Metrics that Matter new book
Supply Chain Management (SCM) - the combined processes of procurement (source), manufacturing (make) and logistics (deliver) - is now thirty years old. Empirically companies know that supply chain performance matters to corporate performance; however, groups argue on which metrics matter the most and why. This book answers these questions. Order Online
Related: Women in Supply Chain WISC