Assume positive intent

As a native French speaker, the words “enfant” and “enfance” stir much stronger emotions in me than their English equivalents “child” and “childhood”.

I am told that in Thai, there are eight different words that can be used for the English word “ethics”, yet none of them have the exact same meaning as the English word.

In some cultures, yellow is a sign of bravery. In others, a sign of treason.

Communicating clearly is very difficult. When we create compliance policies, ethics training, posters and other materials, things get lost in translation. Mistakes are made unknowingly. Confusion emerges from subconscious levels.

Employees and management must recognize this reality and face it with humility and kindness. Let’s give each other the benefit of the doubt and assume positive intent.

Do your employees know that you care about ethics & compliance?

As a leader, do you wish you were more visible and vocal about the importance of ethics and compliance, if only to show your team how important it is to you?

You simply need to create a new habit. Make a chart and leave it where you can see it all day. Let it be a reminder that you want to say something at a meeting or in an email that will demonstrate your commitment to do the right thing. When you send that message, mark your chart.

Aim to do this every day if you can, but no less than 3 times a week. Do it for a month or two, and you won’t need the chart anymore. Not only will you do it out of habit, everyone else in your organization will start shifting under your leadership.

Are you keeping up?

How long ago did you get your job?

If it’s been more than 5 years, have you thought about what new risks and skills you need to focus on?

What do you know about cybersecurity? About privacy laws in Europe and in California? About the #metoo movement? About AI? About working with a remote workforce? About the gig economy?

Can you dedicate 15 minutes each day to learning about these new trends? It’s just one article a day but it adds up to over 90 hours of learning each year. We no longer live in a world where compliance requirements are stable from one year to the next. All E&C professionals must be lifelong learners.

What was the last thing you said?

Last night, a politician won his election by a narrow margin. The night before, the President of the United States had visited the politician’s district to show support. The visit is credited by many as responsible for the win.

In the workplace, many employees make decisions based on the last message they heard from leadership. Was it a message about making the numbers or was it about quality? Was it about shipping on time or about safety?

How visible and vocal is your leadership about the importance of ethics & compliance?

Are you ready to report?

Seneca recommended that we practice poverty in case we became poor.

Soldiers sweat in times of peace so they bleed less in times of war.

Likewise, employees should practice reporting wrongdoing before there is anything to report. The ethical leader should gather her team and periodically ask: “If you noticed [blank], how would you report it?” This is easy to do. Just look at this morning’s headlines to identify some corporate wrongdoing to discuss with your team.

As Mary Gentile described in her book Giving Voice to Values, people who observe wrongdoing know what to do but they struggle with the how. Who should I report this wrongdoing to? When? What should I say? Should I go alone or bring someone with me? It can all be confusing and paralyzing.

A well-trained soldier does not paralyze on the battlefield.

I didn’t do it

“You shouldn’t do indirectly what you wouldn’t do directly.”

We often think of this rule when hiring sales agents. Sales agents should not be used to do things that our own sales force could not do, like paying bribes.

There is a corollary to this rule. It might sound like this: “If you should do it directly, make sure you also do it indirectly.”

Say that you always do a background check on your hires. If you decide to use a labor provider, then you should insist that their background checks are as rigorous as your own.

Behavioral science found that humans can better tolerate wrongdoing when they are not the ones engaged in it. So the vigilant E&C professional will always scrutinize relationships between her organization and its partners.

You are helping someone

If you work in ethics & compliance, you spend most of your time preventing or reacting to wrongdoing.

This can take a toll on your life, mood and outlook.

So take time each week to reach out to those who benefit from your work. Accept their praise and thanks, in all humility. Let these positive connections energize you.

The reputation opportunity

In The End of Reputation, Seth Godin offers examples of new types of fraud and explains how they erode trust.

Of course, fraud itself is not new. In the markets of 1,000 years ago, merchants used rigged scales and weights to defraud their customers. It was difficult to uncover the fraud back then, as it is today. Once uncovered, the merchant lost his reputation, as he does today.

A bad reputation destroys trust, which is the currency of business. No one wants to do business with someone they don’t trust. In a low-trust industry, buyers flock to the one who restores trust. This is why people left taxis for Uber, and then Uber for Lyft.

There has never been a better time to work on your reputation.

Title of Nobility

Most conflict of interests policies seek to avoid two things: (1) actual conflicts and (2) situations that give even the appearance of a conflict.

The Title of Nobility Clause of the US Constitution (often referred to as the Emoluments Clause) is not as specific. Essentially, it simply states that a person holding office, like the President, should not accept anything of value from a foreign official without permission from Congress.

There is nothing in this clause addressing the appearance of impropriety. Nevertheless, early Presidents understood the importance of appearances and frequently gave away to the Department of State gifts that they received from foreign officials, rather than ask permission to keep the gifts for themselves.

Today, the current President is considering hosting the G7 meeting (a multi-million dollar affair) at a property he owns. Several people are trying to determine if this would constitute a breach of the Emoluments Clause. They are focusing on the letter of the law rather than on its spirit. Meanwhile, a 12-year old could tell you that it doesn’t look right.

Why not simply hold the G7 elsewhere?

Ready for the storm?

Hurricane season is back in the United States and several southern States are now bracing themselves against hurricane Dorian.

The vast majority of people will prepare adequately by barricading their windows, by stocking food and water, and by evacuating when the order is given. But a few won’t. They’ll try to ride the storm and, as it happens every time, they will need to be rescued. Some won’t make it out alive.

There are similar storms in the ethics and compliance world. FCPA, GDPR, #MeToo, cybersecurity, opiods, etc. We see them coming and can choose to prepare for them or not. Each time, a few companies or leaders are shaken. A few never recover.

What storm is looming over your company today?