Procurement Pathways Podcast: From Chicken Farm to the C-Suite: A Masterclass in Limitless Leadership (Part I of II)

In this first episode of a two‑part conversation, host Stacy Joslin sits down with Howard Richman, owner of Levelfield Enterprises and retired Chief Procurement Officer at Citrix. Together, they explore what it really takes to build effective, strategic procurement organizations.

Drawing on decades of leadership across pharmaceuticals, CPG, and technology industries, Howard shares an unfiltered look at the unconventional paths that shape successful procurement careers and why the strongest functions are built on people, not just processes, platforms, or savings metrics.

Through candid stories and hard‑earned perspective, this conversation challenges traditional thinking and reframes procurement as one of the most complete and influential business functions in the enterprise.

Key insights for procurement leaders:

• How Howard’s early experiences shaped a lifelong view of procurement as the most holistic role within a business.
• Lessons from building and transforming procurement teams across industries and global organizations.
• Why talent, strengths‑based leadership and trust matter more than systems or savings targets.
• How borderless collaboration and culture separate tactical procurement from strategic impact.

This episode offers a thoughtful, experience‑driven perspective for procurement leaders who want to build resilient teams, foster the right culture, and elevate procurement’s role at the executive table.

About our guest

Howard led Global Indirect Procurement at Citrix Systems for over 6 years before retiring in June 2020. Having led, assisted and consulted on seven Global Procurement Transformations for multinational companies in his career, he won the 2017 World Procurement Leaders Internal Transformation award.

His career highlights include roles in procurement change management, financial capital expenditure and risk analysis, controllership, supply chain business development, and raw material commodities hedging and trading. He has led global IT and indirect procurement functions across a wide range of spend categories, including IT hardware, software, SaaS and cloud services, and outsourcing; professional services such as HR benefits, contingent labor, legal services, management consulting, and financial accounting and audit services; as well as site and facilities outsourcing, travel, meetings, car fleets, creative agencies, media, marketing, and hotel operations. He has also managed futures and options market hedging and trading books for raw material commodities and energy.

Howard is co-author of the book “Procurement Confidential” and served on the boards of Telerx and the US Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce.  He has been a frequent speaker, presenter, workshop leader, and podcast guest for organizations such as Procurement Leaders, Marcus Evans, NegotiationNinja, and Columbia Business School, having co-written a business case on the Sales-Procurement relationship in multinational corporations.