I’m sure there are many pundits and predictions out there about what the CPO of 2035 will need to be adept at dealing with and the requisite skills.so to set the context by using a phrase I’ve used many times: “It depends on the situation, the context and people involved.”
Having read copious reports that range from the geopolitical, economic, sociopolitical, future skills, trends and many in between I think we need to consider the externalities to the function first before we begin to consider what skills are needed to be effective and what the timing/phasing might look like too.
In short, any thoughts around a future skills pathway will need to consider a host of factors, which will ultimately mean that a ‘one-size fits all’ approach will not suffice and will be variable, dynamic and scaled in terms of impact/significance. In conceptualising this visually, some of the key attributes will be as follow;
All the above and many other factors that will effectively become vectors being neither constant or static and will have different impacts in different combinations requiring an agility and flexibility paralleled only by some of the factors that we witnessed in COVID-19.
The WEF ¹ 2025 report on the future skills to 2030 created this infographic, which recognises a number of skills that will be key going forward, despite not being mainstream in procurement leadership development plans today to support a mainstream trend (or sufficiency).
Therefore, when we consider all the factors this leads me to propose the leadership categorisation into three broad groups based on cognitive, emotional, social-behavioural skills, being unidimensional, hierarchical and paradoxical and will consider experiential as well and developed skills that will effectively become a pathway or journey predicated by complexity, cultural awareness, self-awareness and more besides.
| Leadership Dimension | Typical Characteristics | Future Characteristics |
| Unidimensional | Functional Experience▪ Single functionIndustrial Experience▪ Single sector▪ Low product complexity▪ Minimal market regulationGeographical/Cultural Experience▪ Local/regional markets▪ MonocultureRole of Procurement▪ Short term/Tactical buying | Digital native Mission orientated Highly Self-centric Low self-awareness Internally focused High bounded rationality |
| Hierarchical | Functional Experience▪ More than one functionIndustrial Experience▪ More than one sector▪ Moderate product complexity▪ Moderate market regulationGeographical/Cultural Experience▪ National/international markets▪ Exposure to some cultural diversityRole in Procurement▪ Medium term▪ Category management | Developing to developed skills in a specialist pillar such as Digital, ESG, sustainability, Cyber, AI Aware of additive skills;Critical thinkingTheory of changeBehavioural sciencesCrisis management |
| Paradoxical | Functional Experience▪ Multi-functional, including experience beyond procurement, logistics, operations managementIndustrial Experience▪ Multi-sector▪ High product complexity▪ High degree of market regulationGeographical/Cultural Experience▪ Global markets▪ Exposure to multiple culturesRole of Procurement▪ Long term▪ Strategic sourcing | First-hand experience of; Crisis managementCountering cyber attacksCan architect the AI ecosystem for the supply ecosystemHigh legislative awareness Authenticity High self-awareness Highly networked and able to direct and delegate |
Figure 2: Leadership dimensions and future characteristics – Author Loseby D. L. 2025
The above can then be expanded to a time-complexity axis that considers the specifics of sector, complexity, geographic diversity of operation and supply chain, et al.
One aspect that will be common is the need to constantly adjust and adapt much in the same way as an ocean sailing yacht as it charts its way around the world, skippering for the force ten open ocean versus the safety of the harbour. With this metaphor we should also recognise that there will be no such thing as a typical cycle, operation, route/approach as the leader will need to be capable of navigating the most unpredictable of scenarios and dynamic factors.
As a recent aptly titled HBR article² titled ‘Soft Skills Matter Now More Than Ever’ which highlights the need to recruit at the entry level with specialist skills combined with analytical/critical thinking, collaboration and adaptability. The latter being very much part of the fixed mindset versus growth mindset attributes, which is further linked to the big five personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
The big five model suggest a good leadership profile where leaders possess a blend of traits that support leadership emergence and effectiveness:
- High openness
Facilitates creativity, adaptability, and the ability to navigate evolving situations, making for a resourceful leader.
- High conscientiousness
Leads to strong goal focus, organisation, and the ability to plan and deliver on objectives.
- High extraversion
Contributes to assertiveness, sociability, and the ability to connect with people, fostering team confidence and activity.
- Low neuroticism
Results in a calm, resilient leader who can handle stress without becoming overwhelmed, inspiring greater confidence in the team.
- Low (or moderate) agreeableness
Allows leaders to make necessary tough decisions, set boundaries, and advocate for their agenda without being overly concerned with pleasing everyone
As these factors begin to build and shape a profile for CPO’s. further the HBR study ² found that “workers with a broad range of skills were more adaptable to industry changes. This adaptability is especially crucial as specialised skills rise and fall with surprising speed.”
This is supported by the fact that the half life of skills has dropped from circa 10 years in the 1980’s to around four years today, and is projected to fall below two years in the near future. This continues to support the future state that is to all intents VUCA² (The term VUCA – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity – was popularised by the U.S. Army War College in the early 1990s to describe the post-Cold War world. However, the concept emanated from the leadership theories of Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus in 1985 and subsequently adopted by the US military to address the challenges of leading in a changing global environment).
Therefore, a fusion of social skills and cognitive ability ensures low friction, especially where there are new work paradigms initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and post work environment. Thereby solidly underpinning the advent of social skills as not only the ‘glue’ that binds teams, but the complimentary attributes of effective and tailored communication for diverse teams and environments, collaboration that is structured and intentional (something supported by ISO 44001’s Joint Relationship Management Plan, underpinning a common culture, objectives and specific approaches to areas of dissonance between parties-conflict avoidance) along with empathy. This is as a result a complex web of skills, attributes, traits and capabilities that will continue to be tested and nuanced with each and every evolution of the procurement and supply chain ecosystem and allied factors.
Accordingly, the challenges will not be event based but will be part of a continuum that will activate the unlearn and relearn imperative that underpins the shortening of the half-life skills period evidenced in the HBR report².
We must also look at aspects such as ‘modelling behaviour’, trust, reciprocity and psychological safety, all attributes that shift the axis from hard (tangible) to soft (behavioural-social) skills as the predeterminants of effective leadership.
Some years ago, I created a new skills taxonomy which, having reviewed it recently, I feel it still holds good today and enables leaders and teams to consider a ‘route map’ to their own personal approach to the modern T shaped professional profile. This reinforces and emphasises the broad and growing skills and capabilities and the need for ongoing professional development both organisational and self-directed.
Even in 2021, McKinsey³ had grouped their new skills taxonomy into four segments; cognitive, interpersonal, self-leadership and digital, a recognition that a pure functional based approach was too narrow. Further, the surveys and research from McKinsey³ underpinned areas such as trust, humility (authenticity), collaboration and adapting and motivating diverse individuals and teams.
In summing up we can also appreciate that trust, as referenced in a recent Centre for Creative Leadership report⁴, is a fundamental leadership skill, acting as the bedrock for effective teams and organisations. Leaders who cultivate trust through authenticity, open communication, and reliability foster higher engagement, improved decision-making, and increased employee retention. Building trust involves aligning words and actions, prioritising team well-being, and creating a safe environment for open dialogue and innovation.
In short it’s not about the tech it’s about the people in the context that we must recognise that we all have the big five personality traits, over 200+ cognitive biases and different heuristics (life experiences in our business and social lives). Therefore, we all see things, communicate, interpret, express, distil and function from information and decisions differently and as leaders must operate on different ‘frequencies’ all day every day.
References:
¹ WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 I N S I G H T R E P O R T, January 2 0 2 5
² Moh Hosseinioun, Frank Neffke, Hyejin Youn and Letian (LT) Zhang, Soft Skills Matter Now More Than Ever, (According to New Research) August 26, 2025, HBR
³ Marco Dondi, Julia Klier, Frederic Panier, and Jörg Schubert, Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work, July 2021. McKinsey.
⁴ Why Leadership Trust Is Critical, Especially in Times of Change, Center for Creative Leadership June 2024