‘Wrapping ?? up’ the year with compliance conferences and coffees ? ????

Welcome back to the Compliance Corner?? newsletter. And if we haven’t met yet, thank you for joining me! You can learn a little more about me and my work here, and by watching this short video.

As promised, I won’t top-off anyone’s inbox ?? more than once a month but wanted to thank everyone for all your support and wishing everyone a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season and New Year ????

(A quick note ?? - as this is being shared, I am preparing to leave today for Dubai ???? so if anyone is up for a ‘compliance coffee ?’ next week (December 18th)? free free to DM me here on LinkedIn).

As to the photo and topic, that’s? Andrijana Bergant, LLB, MBA, AICA at the EICE - European Institute of Compliance and Ethics Conference (October 26th/27th)? at beautiful Lake Bled in Slovenia ????. As Andrijana was kind enough to share with me,??

“This year's Conference demonstrated again and perhaps more than ever that events can have a heart and a soul. It brings together engaged people for meaningful mission and impact. Richard, I never heard anyone speak about their wrongdoing with such sincerity and intention, completely owning it and without ethical spinning. This was so impactful for listeners,? not just to learn the lessons about corruption from the frontlines, but to really see and feel it. Our audience did and it created a wonderful connection and atmosphere!“

It was such a resonating event, with thanks again to Andrijana, and I also had the pleasure of participating in a panel with Ruth Steinholtz and Jela Zdolsek , Head of Ethics, Risk and Compliance Operations at 诺华 on “Making the right decision under pressure: The role of compliance, ethics and leadership in challenging times.”

With additional thanks to Jela and her team for hosting an incredible factory tour and discussion afterwards at the Novartis campus in Ljubljana which made my first visit to Slovenia all the more memorable (more about that later in the newsletter).?

Another topic that was discussed during the panel was how we can celebrate failure and perhaps temper success in our ethics, compliance and business initiatives and messages? Curious ???

If so, a good place to start might be an article via Fast Company , which I co-authored with Dina Denham Smith and Ron Carucci , titled “Research shows high performing employees are more prone to unethical mistakes”. You can read the article here. And it was a pleasure, as always, to continue that discussion with Adam Turteltaub CCEP, CHC , Chief Engagement & Strategy Officer, Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) via his Compliance Perspective Podcast ?? which you can listen-to here or wherever you stream podcasts. During our conversation, Adam and I shared and exchanged perspectives on:?

?? How? success can? block scrutiny, where peers might be reluctant to question success and are just grateful to see so much of it.?

?? How the more successful people are, the more addicted to success they may become, something I know from my own journey.??

?? The perils of how an organization may grow disproportionately dependent on the results of high performers which can generate and allow for a ‘long leash’ when it comes to oversight.?

Fortunately, there are several things that can be done to mitigate the risk without clipping the wings?? of the highflyer. But to find out, we hope you will listen in ?? to learn about how to get the most out of higher performers while avoiding the risk that success can bring.

It was also a topic that I discussed at the Nielsonsmith Ltd. Anti-Corruption & Ethics forum in Düsseldorf ???? with thanks to Michael Knowles for the invitation to share and exchange perspectives at the Forum on November 7th and 8th. It was such an inspirational conference and I enjoyed all the panels, including perspectives from Florian Wolf Rosa Rosanelli Samantha Boel Dr. Kai Schumacher Letitia A. Alexander Bolz Marrocos de Aragao Tobias Ruppert Caroline Mofors (always a pleasure! ) Christoph Richter DR. ERNST-JOACHIM GROSCHE iohann Le Frapper (with a long overdue reunion ??) Sergey Dovgulya Angel Corbacho Muro (finally great to meet in-person) Sven Büschgens and Jan Tadeusz Stappers . Also, a special shout out to Sara Perkins ? and the team at LRN for all their support.?

And after day one we had a lovely dinner ??, which brings me to the point that sometimes the best conversations at compliance events happen after the event, during social gatherings! I think this ?? picture ?? says it all!

Speaking of compliance conversations and coffee, while in London for the Thinkers50 event, with congratulations ?? to Dorie Clark for her third year as a Thinkers50,? it was wonderful to catch-up with so many friends and colleagues during my time in London, including (clockwise ?? ):? Sam Tate , Partner, RPC ;? Yogesh Gandhi and Warwick C , Vodafone ; Samah Farah , Hein Crous and Lucy Sangster , Anglo American ; and? Laura Dunseath and Philip Palmer , 壳牌 . As you can see, it was all smiles ?? ?

It was also great timing to be in London where I had the chance to meet and work with Sanjay Narayan , Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, AbbVie , where we had a ‘fireside chat’ ?? as part of the first ever AbbVie Ethics & Compliance Week. We? kicked off our discussion as to why compliance is so critical as a business strategic advantage. Some key points in our conversation included:??

1?? Why open conversations and open feedback loops? are so critical to maintaining a strong culture.?

2?? Communicating how the ‘why’ of compliance, including the ethical dynamics of our decision-making, can help encourage open dialogue and discussions.

3?? Why strong tone and clear ethical expectations from senior leadership and middle-level management is a must when it comes to messaging and initiatives.?

4?? Why taking time to pause before big decisions and soliciting a variety of viewpoints (as to avoid ‘confirmation bias’) can lead to better ethical outcomes.

In other words, when embedded in the ‘voice of business’, ethics and compliance is an outstanding resource for better decision making and sustainable business!? And a special shout out to the entire? AbbVie E and C team including Isabella Carini and Patrice Jones Harris for all their help and support ??

When I returned home after my travels, I reflected back on my time in Europe ???? where I had the opportunity to tour three manufacturing facilities— for aircraft ?? , pharmaceuticals ?? (as mentioned), and watches ?. While those might seem to have little in common, I found one strong common thread among them: the passion and precision of those individuals and teams who work at each site.

As an aside, while going through the protocol to enter the sterile environment of the pharmaceutical factory, I made a mistake ?? in getting prepared, and the site manager (who was kind and friendly throughout) brought me to the start of the process again.

My mistake got me thinking about speaking up and failure, a topic I’ve also encountered in Amy Edmondson’s book ?? The Fearless Organization, ?and in her recently released Right Kind of Wrong, The Science of Failing Well.

So, without any more teaser alerts ?? I hope you will join me for the full post on this topic of? what we can learn from failure, passion and precision, with thanks to Harry Cassin and? The FCPA Blog team for publication, ?here.?

And Amy’s work was a topic that Michaela Ahlberg and I discussed, as well as the importance of ‘listening up,’ not just ‘speaking up,’ during a lovely “walk ?? and talk” in Barcelona ????

Finally, as shared earlier in the week, I am so excited to announce my new consulting role with LRN as a Market Development Consultant. I have never partnered with any provider, but I was so inspired and impressed by the work of? LRN , that we decided to work together.

My initial contact and interaction with LRN came via this guy ?? Ty Francis MBE, CCEP , Chief Advisory Officer at LRN, among other incredible accolades and accomplishments. ?? We initially met way back in 2016 at a Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) conference and have stayed in touch ever since, mostly over great curry meals on both sides of the Atlantic. Well, one thing led to another,? as the team, services and technology at LRN really caught my attention.

It’s been a wonderful collaboration, having the pleasure? of working with (at LRN’s HQ in NYC ??, close to where I reside), CEO, Kevin Michielsen ,?Chief Revenue Officer,?Lenny Izzo and especially the Marketing Team led by Chief Marketing Officer Amy Hanan .?Here’s a snap ??, where I recently had the chance to catch up with Amy and ‘fighting-financial-crime’ all-star? ?? Robin Lee 李显龙 during his recent visit to NYC ??.?

Well, that is all for now, and wishing everyone all the best for a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season ?? and New Year. Thank you for reading this edition of the Compliance Corner ?? newsletter. I hope you found it helpful (fun) and engaging. Here are some ways to access further perspectives, tips, and resources:

★ Follow me on LinkedIn to join the conversation on my posts, and feel free to share the newsletter for others who might find it interesting by forwarding this link.

★ Follow my LinkedIn Business Page for more information about events and other compliance get-togethers.?

★ Follow me on twitter to join the conversation on #ethics and #compliance topics.?

★? To request a corporate evaluation of my award-winning co-produced Mastercard e-learning series, corporate evaluations can be requested here.?

★ Reach out to me directly at [email protected].?

★ And if you love Instagram, feel free to follow me here where I will be sure to post stories and photos along the ‘compliance tour!’