What Your Relationship with Your Suppliers Says About Your Leadership

Since founding TYS Coaching, I’ve moved from being the client to being the supplier. I’ve sat on both sides of the table. And one pattern keeps surfacing: the way I’m engaged with as a supplier often mirrors how employees are engaged with inside the business. 

How you show up as a leader doesn’t just shape your in-house team. It echoes through every relationship, including the ones we often overlook: our suppliers. 

Let me show you what I mean with two recent client interactions...

Client 1: The Power of Clarity 

I met a CEO at an event and we chatted for a few minutes. A week later, I was introduced to their COO and we took a call - She was gracious, clear, and grateful for my time. Soon after, I was invited to their office for a meeting where I was met with their HR Manager. CEO and COO were unable to join at the last minute - and honestly? My first thought was: ‘please let this not be one of those meetings that could have been an email.’

Oh humble pie I ate. Within minutes, I realised I might as well have had their CEO sitting right in front of me. The HR Manager spoke with the same clarity, confidence, and alignment that their CEO did. Every question had a thoughtful answer. What was supposed to be a 45 minute meeting soon slipped into 90 minutes because the conversation had depth and direction. She was aligned on the vision, the outcomes they wanted from coaching, the blind spots, and the challenges. 

From the first group workshop I ran, the culture was unmistakable. People challenged each other (healthily) before I had even spoken. It usually takes some time to build that sort of psychological safety within a group. Here, we could just hit the ground running - and, devise ways on how to protect and maintain that solid culture they had built.

Interestingly, two participants told me they had actually left the company a few years ago only to have chosen to come back. That said a lot.  

This wasn’t luck. This particular business had its fair share of upheaval 18 months earlier, with up to five resignations in a single day. It wasn’t overnight work. It wasn’t chance.

It was strong leadership.

Clear leadership. Intentional communication. A culture of challenge and trust. One where employees were listened to. Given the space to talk. Even if the decision they disagreed with had to go ahead anyway. It was a company where clarity and passion for the business from the Executive Team filtered right through the system, empowering people at every level to own the mission. 

And, I knew it before I even walked in – just because of the way I was engaged with from the start.  

Client 2: The Cost of Chaos

Now the flip side. Here’s another very similar business and the same sort of work they were after. Should have been plain sailing, right? 

But, here there was no CEO. No COO. There was an HR team – not just one person but a flock - yet zero direction. We had endless loops of back-and-forth conversations. Meetings without direction and ultimately no decisions. Little clarity on the outcomes they wanted, what the C-level team would commit to, or what budgets were acceptable. 

Every step felt like a hurdle. A proposal would be signed off one week, then questioned the next. Instructions clashed depending on who you spoke to. Feedback arrived late, vague, or contradictory, making it impossible to build momentum. 

With this HR team, I didn’t feel clarity or enthusiasm on what we were building. I felt anxiety. Desperation. ‘Please Tara, how can you help us!?’ And, it wasn’t the workload creating their stress, it was the chaos. No communication. No vision. No direction. No empowerment. This business simply did not create the conditions for its teams, on any level, to operate autonomously.

The result when I walked in and started my work? Teams that mirrored that same fragmentation. Engagement slipping. A lot of fear. Just polite conversations. No real challenges brought to the table - that is, until I really got to work with them.

Confusion over who does what, even at the Executive Table. Talented people leaving. A culture that couldn’t hold onto its best. And boy did it have a few golden gems there. 

And here’s the thing: It wasn’t that the owners didn’t care. They genuinely meant well. They hired smart people, paid them fairly, offered great perks, and trusted them to get on with it. But trust without clarity isn’t empowerment - it’s abandonment. That gap, that silence at the top, created a vacuum. No vision. No parameters. No rhythm. And in that space, chaos didn’t just creep in - it took over and thrived.

The Reflection

These weren’t just supplier experiences. They were mirrors of leadership energy running through teams, hallways, emails, meetings and yes, interactions with suppliers like myself.

Because how you treat suppliers is often how you treat your teams. 

Here’s a hard truth: Most organisations drift into Client 2 mode more often than they’d like; or that they’re even aware of.

The trick isn’t getting it right all the time. It’s having the people, systems, and habits in place that pull you back toward clarity, connection and impact. Because without those anchors, even the best of businesses with the best of intentions will start to drift.

My Practical Invitation to You 

If you’re dipping into Client 2 more often than you’d like or simply want to check where you stand, I’m here to help.

With the right people, systems, and habits, you can reset the course. Because the energy you bring doesn’t stop with you. It ripples. Through suppliers. Through teams. Through your entire business. 

Do you want help to get unstuck? Let’s talk.