Survey finds leadership turnover disrupting supply chain operations

A new Gartner Inc. survey warns that high leadership turnover and rapid changes driven by artificial intelligence are exposing major gaps in how supply chain organizations identify and develop future leaders.

The global survey of 227 supply chain executives found that 54 per cent experienced moderate to severe disruption in their function’s ability to operate over the past three years due to leadership turnover. Gartner says the findings highlight the need for chief supply chain officers to overhaul traditional leadership development models.

“Effective supply chain leadership has to shift from an overreliance on individual superstars, who our research has found are less collaborative, to leaders who are motivated and equipped to amplify the performance of their teams and organizations,” said Tess Frenzel, senior principal analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice. “CSCOs who are able to adapt their leadership strategies to build these types of leaders and design the roles and development programs to help them succeed will improve supply chain performance, despite the disruption inside and outside of their organizations.”

The survey outlines several challenges facing supply chain leaders today: only 22 per cent display “collectively motivated” behaviours linked to stronger business results; 59 per cent say leadership roles require an increasingly broad range of skills; and fewer than half rate their leadership development programs as effective.

Respondents also cited cultural concerns, with just 31 per cent saying work-life balance is part of the path to higher roles and 37 per cent calling promotion processes transparent.

Gartner says building future-ready supply chain leaders will require three major shifts: rewarding team-oriented leadership, preventing roles from becoming overly broad and replacing static development programs with more agile, technology-enabled approaches.

The findings are detailed in Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Report: Build the Next Generation of Leaders.