Strengthening Ethics and Compliance: Lessons from Resistance Training and the 80-year old Harvard Study on Happiness

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Building Ethical Strength

I asked a, Stephanie, a trainer I work with the key to a healthier lifestyle beyond the basics of exercise and diet .

What’s the one thing we should all be doing in addition to what we are recommended?

Without hesitation or pause she said:

“Any type of resistance training for bone density.”?

Resistance training is not new to me; I do this religiously to protect my back and prevent injury. But delving deeper into its benefits, I uncovered numerous advantages I was not aware of. These ranged from prevention of cognitive decline with ageing to improved stamina and reduced fatigue. And even control over chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease and reduced risk of osteoporosis.

These insights struck a chord with my work in ethics and compliance. It illustrates how the standards and recommendations drummed into us by advertisers and health departments are merely a starting point.

And if we parallel this with ethics and compliance, we can see that the laws and regulations that we implement programs and processes for in our organisations are designed to primarily target misconduct (deviant people and organisations). But their role is not to consider or legislate for broader organizational benefits.

This makes sense –

it’s not the job of legal makers to think about company benefits – but it is ours!

Laws and regulations may serve as a safeguard against wrongdoing, but they fall short in driving productivity, engagement, and cultural enhancement. So, to bridge this gap, do we need to consider our own version of "resistance training" for legal, governance, ethics, and compliance programs?

80 year-long Harvard Study

Before we consider the impact of 'ignoring the recommended norm' in ethics and compliance, I urge you to consider the longest study ever conducted on happiness and health by Harvard. This 80-year study revealed some surprising truths and fascinating insights about what really leads to both health as well as fulfilment over a lifetime.

The lessons from this study are in an excellent book, The Good Life by the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, Dr Robert Waldinger and Dr Marc Schulz. And the results are not what we would normally think.

The study initiated in 1938 and tracked the lives of 724 men, and later included their spouses and thousands of their children, to understand what predicts healthy and happy aging.

It's not looking after our cholesterol levels, walking, or what we eat or where we live in the world. It's not how often we exercise, the amount of water we drink. How much we do or don't drink alcohol. It's not where we live

The study found that strong personal relationships are what keep people happy throughout their lives. High-quality relationships are apparently better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes.

According to Waldinger, good relationships "keep us healthier and happier."

People with more robust social connections showed lower rates of diabetes, arthritis, cognitive decline, and other chronic conditions.

So evidence backed research tells us that we can be healthier and live longer through relationships, connections and simple resistance training, which is not what we are educated about by traditional medical practitioners.

A Compliance and Ethics Study: how are we Elevating Ethics and Compliance Beyond Legal and Regulatory Requirements

The approaches we use may vary, but it's clear that relying solely on the ‘baseline’ won't suffice for fully integrating ethics and compliance into organizational DNA.

So what could (and are) our organisations doing to increase their ethical and compliance health and wellbeing outside of the required laws, regulations and standards?

What strategies beyond regulatory mandates, does your organisation cultivate that allows it to ethically thrive?

Although I have examples from my experience, this is an area where we would all benefit from learning from each other. To do this, we need to a far greater breadth of experience across different sectors.

So please complete this form here to provide your insights. I will then use this as research for an article/white paper I am writing.

I’d love to credit your insights and if you are comfortable to do so, please indicate in the form. ?And if not, you will be anonymous.

I will also share this article with all contributors, together with all anonymised research, before it is published.

Thank you in advance.

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Other articles by Nicole

If you liked this article, check out:

1. Challenging the Overconfidence of Compliance
2. Negotiating Compliance: Applying FBI Hostage Tactics to DOJ Corporate Compliance Standards
3. The Institute Insights: Organisations are just a “Mass of Habits”: Insights for Compliance from Sleepwalking Murderers and Compulsive Gamblers
4. How Great Leaders Inspire Action. Compliance lessons from Simon Sinek and an Aboriginal Elder
5. From Compliance to Conversion: Why the DOJ Transformed Leaders and Compliance Professionals into Marketing and Sales Teams

The Caveat

The information in this newsletter is not intended to be used as legal advice. I would be happy to provide specific legal or compliance advice if you have any specific questions. Just email me at [email protected] .

Alternatively consult with a qualified professional for advice tailored to your specific situation.

Thanks for reading

Nicole Rose

Untold Compliance and co-Founder Zenira Business Intelligence

Co-host of the Eight Mindsets Podcast

p.s.

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