SupplyChain Magazine October 2017 | Page 12

PROFILE
PAUL ALEXANDER IS an old head in procurement . He ’ s been at the forefront of the industry for over a decade now , firstly with British Airways , as its Head of Procurement , and now he ’ s Head of Indirect Procurement for EMEA with BP .
Since undertaking his Master ’ s degree 20 years ago , Alexander has been a passionate believer that good leadership can very much be a difference maker as far as a business ’ s success is concerned . With that in mind , he has strived to implement a culture of learning and development at BP so that staff can enjoy themselves while realising their full potential .
There is no doubt in Alexander ’ s mind that ensuring a happy workforce is absolutely vital in ensuring productivity , particularly within a business function as vital as procurement .
He says : “ My view is that inspiration and learning is really what people are turned on by these days and that ’ s what creates a successful team . Something that compounded my thinking was research by Zenger Folkman . They ’ ve written a couple of books , the first of which is called The Extraordinary Leader and their research is absolutely fascinating . “ They ’ ve found many things in their studies and they ’ ve used very , very large sample groups to test their assumptions . They have found very clearly that the ability for leaders to inspire interest , and that the resource and sincerity you put into development and learning , are the things that will drive success .
“ I ’ m also immensely fortunate though because BP has a very clear approach to what good leadership is . It ’ s a very moral , very carefully considered and right-thinking way of doing things – it ’ s founded in trust and it ’ s founded in respect for people and driving excellence . So , for me , there ’ s a happy marriage there between what my own beliefs are , what the research says and what BP wants me to do as a leader .”
Alexander is from what he describes as a “ very ordinary , working-class heritage ” and admits he has seen the very worst leadership traits demonstrated during some of the earlier jobs in his career .
“ When I think back over my career – and I ’ ve worked as an orderly , as a driver ’ s mate in HGVs , I ’ ve done all sorts of jobs – I ’ ve been victim
12 October 2017