Supply chain leadership is dominated by internal incumbents who have advanced rapidly without relevant education or prior experience. Promotions are handed out based on proximity and participation—not capability. The result is an insular, narrow-minded leadership group with little understanding of how high-performing organizations operate. They would never be considered if they applied as external candidates.
• Directors hoard decision-making authority, protect inefficient processes, and gatekeep information.
• Recognition and praise is misaligned—visibility is rewarded over actual effectiveness and measurable impact.
• Team structures are inequitable. High performers operate at or above director-level expectations but are constrained rather than developed. low performers are protected and praised for agreeableness despite limited output.
• Meetings are dominated by performative discussion and corporate jargon, with excessive talking and little substance or action. The issues that VHC had 5 years ago are still issues.
• Risk assessment is inconsistent and not data-driven. Minor, hypothetical risks are exaggerated to block progress, while significant, real risks are advanced without adequate evaluation, testing, or measurement.
• Workplace safety: A manager was promoted after engaging in a relationship with a direct report under a clear power imbalance that compromised consent. This reflects a failure to enforce basic safeguards and signals tolerance of predatory behavior at the leadership level.
• An unqualified analyst was handed a data manager position, despite barely knowing how to use basic tools like excel. The manager pushes manual and inefficient processes despite having the tools to automate. At any other organization, this team’s low output would be immediate grounds for outsourcing or replacement by AI.
