Procurement Pathways Podcast: Procurement as a People Business: Leadership Lessons Across Borders

In this episode, host Stacy Joslin sits down with Carlos Perico, Managing Director at ProcureAbility, to explore the leadership principles that have shaped his global procurement career. Drawing on experiences across multiple countries, cultures, and industries, Carlos shares why understanding people is often more important than understanding processes.

At the center of the conversation is a simple but powerful idea: procurement is ultimately a people business. While organizations invest heavily in technology, processes, and transformation initiatives, sustainable success depends on trust, relationships, and the culture leaders create for their teams.

The conversation explores why people-centered leadership remains one of the most powerful drivers of organizational success. From building trust and fostering collaboration to developing talent and embracing diverse perspectives, the discussion offers practical insights for leaders navigating increasingly complex market environments.

Key insights for procurement leaders include:

• Importance of building trust and psychological safety to strengthen team performance and collaboration.
• Role of cultural intelligence and relationship-building in leading across global organizations.
• Value of aligning individual strengths, passions, and career aspirations with business needs.
• Impact of authentic leadership on employee engagement, retention, and long-term success.

Listen to Stacy and Carlos’s conversation to learn how people-centered leadership, cultural awareness, and a commitment to continuous learning can help procurement leaders build stronger teams and create lasting organizational impact.

About our guest:

Carlos Perico has worked in high-tech manufacturing, CPG, hospitality, retail, telecommunications, automotive, utilities, and social-media industries. He started his career at UM Motorcycles building their Global Procurement and Supply Chain Finance capabilities. Later he founded CPG, a boutique consulting firm based in Shanghai, specializing in strategic sourcing out of Asia. After returning to the US, Carlos joined Denali Sourcing Services where he spent 8 years delivering global procurement services to Fortune 1000 organizations and was a member of the integration team after the WNS acquisition. Before joining ProcureAbility he led Unify Consulting’s Delivery Centers’ expansion.

Carlos has lived on five continents allowing him to adapt and learn from diverse cultures and ways of doing things. He is bilingual in Spanish and English and continues to hone his Mandarin skills. Carlos holds a B.A. in International Economics and an M.S. in Finance from Florida International University.

Carlos, wife, and two daughters live in the Seattle area. They enjoy the outdoors, traveling to new places, and discovering new local flavours.