Lawrence Kane, Cop-Gov, Csp, Csmp, Ciap Email and Phone Number

Head of Procurement (and Vice President of multiple operating entities such as Money Services, Inc., Transamerica Corporation, Transamerica Life Insurance Company, etc.) at Transamerica, a diversified financial services company that provides insurance, savings, investment, and retirement solutions that empower millions of customers across the United States.Moved our procurement team up the 4-stage capability/maturity curve from Order Fillers (Level 2) to Contributors (Level 3) in a mere 18 months, with a long-term goal of becoming Trusted Advisors (Level 4). This procurement transformation institutionalized leading practices that earned three Future of Sourcing Innovation awards from SIG.Instituted a fresh organizational mission and vision, enriched team culture, and modernized our operating model to optimize alignment with key stakeholders and maximize value from suppliers. Established a procurement center of excellence to drive continuous improvement, invested in tools and automation (such as a Contract Lifecycle Management system), instituted category management disciplines, revitalized the supplier diversity and sustainable procurement programs, managed organizational change, and fostered a culture of continuous learning with certification training, a distinguished speaker lunch-and-learn series, and other investments that improved procurement functional excellence and outcomes.

There were more than 1.1 million self-published and “non-traditional” books released in 2013, nearly four times more titles than were distributed by traditional publishers that same year. Despite this explosion of new titles, the average book sold less than 250 copies that year and was expected to sell under 2,000 copies over its lifetime. In fact, less than 5% of all books ever published have sold more than 5,000 copies. While millions of books are published each year, few of them actually make any money, and those that do mostly benefit their publishers.After writing eight bestselling and/or award-winning books that were released through major players (e.g., Gotham Books/Penguin Group) and niche publishers (e.g., YMAA Publication Center), it became evident that the royalty equation was not balanced in my favor. That led to the options of giving up on writing or flipping the equation. I chose the latter, co-founding a niche publishing house that has produced more than a dozen acclaimed titles, including Eric Hoffer Award nominees and National Indie Excellence, USA Best Book, Independent Press Award, Independent Press Distinguished Favorite, eLit Gold Medal, NYC Big Book Award, Living Now Book Awards Gold Medal, and Beverly Hills Book Award winners.As the COO I hired the CFO, CMO, and CPO, and established policies that promoted company culture and vision through its operations and media relations. I executed strategies necessary to achieve sales, profitability, cash flow, and business objectives, implemented plans for the operational infrastructure of systems, policies, processes, suppliers, and staff, hired talent (e.g., authors, models, editors, designers, etc.), negotiated contracts, governed supplier relationships, and oversaw our marketing campaigns.

A year before my first black belt test my instructor asked me to write a thesis. I took his mandate seriously, did a bunch of research, and showed up on test day with a 140-page document. When I handed it to him, the conversation went something like this:“Kane, what's this?”“The thesis you asked for Sensei.”“What? I meant research paper. I was expecting 10 or 15 pages.”“Really?!”“Yeah.”“Duh’oh!”While that manuscript began as a misunderstanding, he loved it. And so did the publisher I pitched it to… Fast forward and today I am the bestselling author of 30 books, earning a Beverly Hills Book Award and Presidential Prize winner, a USA Best Book Award, 3 National Indie Excellence Award winners, a Next Generation Indie Book Award winner, 2 Independent Press Award winners, 3 eLit Gold medals, and a Living Now Book Awards Gold Medal, among other honors.I am also a contributing author to the Outsourcing Professional Body of Knowledge (OPBOK), Strategic Sourcing in the New Economy, Unpacking Collaborative Bidding, Ask an Expert, Fighter’s Fact Book 2, Wicked Wisdom, Campfire Tales from Hell, Beyond the Picket Fence, and The Problem of Practical Karate.And, I didn’t do too badly on the karate front either... I am an internationally renowned judicious use-of-force expert who has been interviewed about martial arts, self-defense, and business topics numerous times on nationally syndicated and local shows such as Biz Talk Radio, Good Books Radio, The Jim Bohannon Show, Art of Procurement Podcast, and Fox Morning News. I have also done print interviews for prestigious publications such as Forbes, Computerworld, Le Matin, Practical Taekwondo, Traditional Karate, CPO Strategy, and Police Magazine.My articles have appeared in International Ryukyu Karate-jutsu Research Society Journal, Fighting Arts, Traditional Karate, Clarion Reviews, Gospel Martial Arts Union, Jissen, Conflict Research Group International, and ForeWord Magazine, among other publications.

Known for innovative thinking and servant leadership, I was entrusted with solving some of the company’s toughest supply chain challenges, including leading and evangelizing numerous strategic sourcing, procurement, and business transformation initiatives. I architected the first company-wide IT sourcing strategy, created the Global Sourcing & Vendor Management function, demonstrated the value of a centralized organization, and was promoted up three levels of management to implement the IT Infrastructure Sourcing Office. My team and I managed over $1.6B in annual spend by architecting sourcing strategies and category plans, designing full-lifecycle procurement processes and tools, developing solicitations, evaluating bids, negotiating deals, benchmarking contracts, and governing supplier relationships, institutionalizing innovations that earned the prestigious Global Excellence in Outsourcing award from IAOP, among other honors.I also architected and implemented numerous IT Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing programs, leading cross-functional teams of 12 to 110 global employees. These efforts collectively saved over $4.95B. For example, I developed digital transformation strategies that leveraged agile procurement methodologies to shift from CAPEX to OPEX through a variety of XaaS solutions (e.g., Application Management as a Service, Compute as a Service), improve cycle times up to 50x, modernize legacy IT systems, create a hybrid internal-external cloud computing (IaaS/PaaS) service, and reduce technical debt by 83.5%. This project reduced the time from solicitation to contract signing by 60%, achieved cost savings of 50%, and earned an esteemed Future of Sourcing Innovation Award for Outsourcing best practices.While primarily focused on the buy-side, I also supported multibillion-dollar business development efforts, including two new airplane development programs, an airframe data monetization initiative, and the company’s largest IT sale.

I supervised 3 Captains and 67 employees who provided security and oversaw fan safety during Seahawk and Husky football games at Husky Stadium. It was a lot like getting paid to watch football, at least until somebody pulled a knife or did something similarly stupid... In this capacity I was directly involved in over 300 violent altercations, a majority of which I was able to resolve without needing to resort to countervailing force. Nevertheless, many encounters required “paperwork.” That was when I provided leadership to ensure poise, professionalism, and good judgment by the team under stressful conditions, coordinating responses with campus police and state patrol officers to control hazardous situations. I also helped develop and test the stadium's emergency plan after 9/11, working closely with the Department of Homeland Security, University of Washington Police Department, the Washington State National Guard, university administration, and other state and local agencies.

I developed and taught two 30-hour software application courses per academic quarter. One of the highest rated faculty members at RTC, I regularly received student accolades for communicating effectively, demonstrating patience, and fostering a positive learning environment.