Roberto Canevari was named Executive Vice President, Global Supply Chain in July 2021. In this role, he oversees The Estée Lauder Companies’ Global Supply Chain operations, including end-to-end procurement, manufacturing, planning, quality assurance, and logistics for the company’s diverse brand portfolio across all channels and geographies.
Canevari is a dynamic and strategic leader who has led and transformed the supply chain organizations of several global, luxury, and brand-led companies. Prior to joining The Estée Lauder Companies, he served as Executive Vice President of Supply Chain, Europe, at Unilever PLC where he oversaw end-to-end supply chain operations for the company’s European business. In addition to being a highly experienced and innovative expert in his field, Mr. Canevari has a deep passion for driving an organization’s culture and values.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Connect with the Guest:
Roberto Canevari: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- How Roberto ended up in supply chain and what excites him
- Building resilience within the organization through people, culture, and change management
- Empowering local teams and accelerating the decision-making process
- Allowing people to learn from their mistakes and leading a team
- Culture, Diversity, Hiring, and Soft Skills
Show notes:
- [00:50] How did you end up in supply chain?
- [01:54] Not only did I like what I studied- seeing how to implement and utilize it in the company, but I also had a great boss who showed me the opportunity of an extended supply chain.
- [03:40] We always need to remember that supply chain experts are business leaders. Supply chain is defined in multiple ways but never as a business, and it is. Supply chain is the business- it is a component of the business.
- [05:55] How do you see resilience? But more in the context of putting a lot of emphasis on people, culture, and change management?
- [06:44] I’m looking at resilience almost like a lens that we use to read what is going on in our supply chain. Then using this lens, magnify what is more relevant to create more resilience.
- [08:37] When you talk about the team, to me, the key to that means how do you keep the energy very high?
- [12:32] Do you have some example in Estee Lauder in the last 12 or 18 months, perhaps, where you’ve empowered local teams to make a decision?
- [16:02] The point to me is how do you accelerate the decision-making process? And we do that through empowering our people on the ground. Because when they see the reality, they can react super fast, as long as you give them a framework.
- [18:23] You should allow your team to learn from their mistakes, not just saying or doing it when things are going so well, but also when you have a big problem- that is the real test.
- [20:16] “You always have two things when you are running a team- the approach of the window and the mirror. Make sure that you have only a few mirrors and many windows. With a mirror you only see yourself, but with a window, you are not looking at yourself but at others.”
- [22:19] You’ve been in leadership positions for many years, how do you see this piece of very subtle culture?
- [25:23] The point is, how do we all create an environment where we can really be ourselves and where we can really use all our energy, and not create a different version of ourselves?
- [27:06] When you look at hiring people, what do you look for in terms of soft skills?
- [29:28] There is no single individual that can have some fantastic skills that are bigger than the team.
- [30:33] From your experience, what would be some top advice that you would give to somebody that’s just starting out in supply chain that has helped you the most in your career?
- [31:26] Don’t be too worried about speed and going faster. Just learn. Make sure that you are learning and you’re becoming richer and richer in your experience.
- [32:14] Stay true to your values. Don’t change too much of yourself. Keep on improving yourself, yes, but stay true to your values. You cannot play a role, you only need to play yourself.
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Soundbite from the Episode:
About the Host:
The host, Radu Palamariu is the co-author of “From Source to Sold – Stories of Leadership in Supply Chain”. He has been named one of the top 3 Global Supply Chain Influencers on LinkedIn and was featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, WEF, Bangkok Post, and MIT Supply Chain Talent magazine. Radu invites executives to share stories and perspectives around technology, logistics, e-commerce, supply chain, and manufacturing, and their views on how the future will look.
Alcott Global connects and upgrades the supply chain ecosystem by finding the right talent through executive search, developing talent through learning solutions, and meeting supply chain technology needs through a comprehensive crunch base marketplace.
The supply chain executive search has been our focus since the very beginning, offering recruitment services for top-tier supply chain roles at every level of the end-to-end supply chain: plan, source / procure, make, and deliver. Our consultants have years of experience in placing top talent, in North America, LATAM, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and APAC, and besides speed, one of our biggest strengths is our network within the supply chain industry, and we capitalize on it to find the best solutions.
Through the years, we have grown as an organization and our offerings with it. One of our initiatives, the learning solutions- training and supply chain academy, is focused on transforming leadership- self-leadership, executive presence, influence capital, and business acumen. Through Supplify, we aim to match corporations with the top technology companies to solve their supply chain and logistics challenges with a focus on innovation and digital transformation.
We are in constant touch with the leaders in supply chain, inviting them to inspire the supply chain professionals in thought-provoking podcast episodes and events, and showcasing what is possible at the yearly Leaders in Supply Chain Awards.
Related Episodes:
#130: Supply Chain as Promoter of E2E Business Transformation
#131: Leading Transformation and Redefining the Logistics Sector
