Seasoned supply chain leaders-- when you step into a new role, how do you prevent becoming overly reliant on past experience and stay alert to new or emerging risks?

Always network, read external resources and attend in person events. The events don't need to be industry or functional events. It can be associations or even cross-functional events that are interlinked with supply chain (which ones aren't?).

I personally read a lot and from diverse sources (please, do this favour for yourself, don't restrict your reading pool...let yourself be challenged by others' idea or perspective). I love events where I can meet CFOs or CCOs etc., simply to hear their perspective and learn from those as well.

I also read a lot of news and then filter for relevance (this I do very fast, by reading the first 1-2 paragraphs maybe, then decide if I go further as it is relevant or not).

If you don't have the time, podcasts or audiobooks are equally good.

Plus, every time I enter a new role (for me it is even more frequent as I am external), I do an overview-absorb-challenge-research-challenge-improve cycle.....rinse & repeat for all process areas within my remit.

This will keep you not only interested, but also vigilant to internal & external risks/emerging risks.

Every new environment I encounter is an exciting journey fueled by curiosity and resilience, qualities I honed during my first Supply Chain job. While patterns can be useful, their true value emerges only when they're validated against fresh expectations.