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FCPA Compliance Report

Tom Fox has practiced law in Houston for 30 years and now brings you the FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report. Learn the latest in anti-corruption and anti-bribery compliance and international transaction issues, as well as business solutions to compliance problems.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Oct 29, 2018

In this podcast, I consider Sherlock Holmes as a teacher and the role he sets out for every Chief Compliance Officer. In a blog post by Maria Konnikova, entitled “What Sherlock Holmes Can Teach Us About Decision Making”, she explored some of the ways that Holmes “insights into the human mind do more to teach us about how we do think and how we should think than many a more conventional source.” Her insights included that Holmes “teaches us to be constantly mindful of our surroundings”; he goes beyond seeing to actually observing; and teaches us to use our senses to increase our mindfulness.

I thought about Konnikova’s insights into Holmes while reading an article in the Corner Office Section of the New York Times (NYT), entitled “In Sports or Business, Always Be Prepared for the Next Play”, where Adam Bryant reported on an interview he did with LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Weiner. The article had many nuggets of wisdom from Weiner who talked about his journey to becoming the CEO of LinkedIn and some of the things he has learned along the way.

Be Prepared

The first thing is to be prepared; which Weiner expressed in the phrase “next play”. He came up with this from Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski who says it each time his Blue Devil team goes up and down the court “he doesn’t want the team lingering too long on what just took place. He doesn’t want them celebrating that incredible alley-oop dunk, and he doesn’t want them lamenting the fact that the opposing team just stole the ball and had a fast break that led to an easy layup. You can take a moment to reflect on what just happened, and you probably should, but you shouldn’t linger too long on it, and then move on to the next play.”

In another context, I have previously written about compliance maven Stephen Martin, who urges compliance counsel to put together a 1, 3 and 5 year strategic plan which should be utilized as a road map for a compliance program in these time frames. Martin believes that such a strategic plan could well lead to the development of credibility for your company and your compliance program in the event of one of the aforementioned eventualities. In other words, “next play”.

Culture and Values

Weiner spoke about LinkedIn’s culture and values. He defined culture as “who we are” while defining values as “the principles upon which we make day-to-day decisions.” He stated that the company’s culture has five dimensions: transformation, integrity, collaboration, humor and results. The company has six values which are “members first; relationships matter; be open, honest and constructive; demand excellence; take intelligent risks; and act like an owner. And by far the most important one is members first. We as a company are only as valuable as the value we create for our members.” Weiner recognizes that values are a subset of culture so that they are “inextricably linked”. He believes that the company’s culture and values help in several ways including recruiting, motivating, inspiring and productivity.

Going Forward

Bryant ended his interview with Weiner by asking him “What career advice do you give to business school students?” While recognizing that Weiner’s answer was for a different target market than compliance professionals, nevertheless I found his advice highly practical for the compliance practitioner. First, you must have two things, passion and skill. In other words, to do compliance well you not only need the technical capacity but you should also be passionate about doing it. Second, you should endeavor “to surround yourself with amazing people.” Weiner believes that “in this more networked, interconnected world we live in, it’s just all about the people you work with.” This is not about having a mentor but it’s “about the people you work with and the people who report to you. It’s about everyone you’re associated with, day in and day out. Surround yourself with only the best you can find.” Lastly, Weiner said that you should always be learning. You should never lose your intellectual curiosity.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s podcast series on Adventures in Compliance, on the intersection of Sherlock Holmes and compliance.

If you are looking for the top compliance training class around, the Compliance Master Class. If you would like information please email at tfox@tfoxlaw.comand I can forward you the agenda. If you would to register, you can do so here.

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