The road ahead

I often quote one of the finest leadership gurus, John Maxwell, who said, “If you want to know what’s on the road ahead, ask someone on the way back.” How true … until COVID-19, that is! Nobody has gone through this before.

We, as supply chain professionals, are at our best when we have disciplined, finely tuned business processes operating within a well-understood business environment. Sudden change and catastrophic impact to supply chains create … well… you know … 2020 and 2021. Will the road ahead be significantly different in 2022?

Well, even though the calendar says that it’s a new year, 2022 has begun with many of the same challenges that concluded 2021. But we have certainly learned from the past couple of years, responding by adding well-planned redundancies, increasing our focus on resiliency, implementing expansive digitization and warning signal detection, and strengthening critical and strategic partnerships. Taking what we have learned and turning that into an opportunity to reinvent and innovate is what supply chain professionals do.

Indeed, smart leaders and smart operational talent realize that continuous learning is paramount to success. Let 2022 be the year of developing talent through encouraging continuous education. As members of CSCMP, you are afforded the very best in ongoing learning, certification, and peer-to-peer connections. All of these pose opportunities to learn and solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

As your professional association, CSCMP is committed to both developing and arming supply chain professionals to be successful in their pursuit of excellence throughout their careers. In 2022, we are working with strategic partners to release several cutting-edge research reports including:

• The second edition of “Digital Transformation in Supply Chain Planning,” to be released May 2022;
• “CSCMP’s 33^rd Annual State of Logistics Report” to be released June 21, 2022; 
• The third edition of the ”State of Supply Chain Sustainability,” to be released July 2022;
• The fourth edition of “Logistics 2030: Navigating a Disruptive Decade,” to be released September 2022; and 
• The 24th edition of the “Third-Party Logistics Report,” also to be released September 2022.

No matter what stage of professional development you are at, CSCMP has an opportunity for you to learn and grow this year. Students beginning their career journey should explore CSCMP’s Mentorship Program and Career Center. Young professionals seeking credentials to secure a promotion should consider CSCMP’s SCPro Certification. New managers looking to develop leadership skills are invited to volunteer with their local roundtable. And if you are a senior leader looking to pay it forward, think about speaking at one of our conferences or events, writing an article for one of our publications, or mentoring one of our Young Professional members.

Don't miss out on all these opportunities to engage, learn, mentor, and be at the cutting edge of supply chain thought leadership! Learn more about all the opportunities mentioned above, including how to become a CSCMP member, at cscmp.org.