Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. While Thanksgiving is often associated with traveling to be with family, eating turkey, watching football, and, this year, going out late because Black Friday shopping has bled into Thursday, a central tenet of Thanksgiving is to think about and express how much you appreciate the good things you have in life.

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So, what does a successful procurement manager’s Thanksgiving prayer sound like? How about this?:

• I am thankful for my internal customers, who are open-minded and eager to learn how their needs for goods and services can be satisfied while complying with corporate procurement policies
• I am thankful for my suppliers, who provide high-quality goods and services on time and with excellent service and occasionally going above and beyond the call of duty to keep my organization’s operations running smoothly
• I am thankful for my buyers, who effectively and ethically achieve impressive cost savings and consistently exceed the targets for their key performance indicators
• I am thankful for my management, who gives my department the support necessary to drive change through the organization
• I am thankful for other departments, such as Legal and Human Resources, who work quickly and diligently to ensure that the procurement department is properly supported in its more complex initiatives
• I am thankful for my peers, who help me to stay current on emerging practices and technologies in the profession

These represent key relationships necessary for maximum success in the procurement profession. If you’ve laughed or scoffed at reading one or more of these because the situation is different in your organization, please understand that, if you want change, you have to be the catalyst of change. Take action to build any subobtimal relationships over the next year. Then, next Thanksgiving, this list can be your list.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!