In today’s edition of Sunday Book Review:
In this episode of the FCPA Compliance Report I visit with Gordon Graham. Gordon is a successful whistleblower who told his tale in the book The Intrepid Brotherhood. In this book, Graham discusses how corruption threatened to ruin jobs and harm lives. The leadership at the top of the organization used intimidation, distrust, and secrecy to control the Chelan County Public Utility District showing that control and power can corrupt even the most ethical organization’s integrity—unless someone speaks up. Which Gordon Graham did. In this podcast, he tells his story.
Resources
website: www.intrepidbrotherhood.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gordon-graham-57385319a
Facebook Author Page: In Search Of Aristotle | Facebook
Welcome to the Greetings and Felicitations, a podcast where I explore topics which might not seem to be directly related to compliance but clearly influence our profession. In this episode, Jason Meyer and Tom Fox continue the annual tradition begun by Jason of Ethics Madness, a show where we look at the intersection of sports and ethics during March Madness. We have used a variety of social media over the years to broadcast Ethics Madness and this year we use the podcast format. Highlights include:
1. Greetings, and welcome to Ethics Madness, a crossover episode of on Eight Mindsets and Greetings and Felicitations.
2. About the ethics madness concept and history.
3. Ethics and sports:
A. Formula 1
B. Russian doping at the Olympics.
4. Ethics and hoops.
A. Women’s March madness, and the ethics story behind why this is the first year we can say that March Madness for the Women’s Tournament. Plus USWNT Soccer and equal pay agreement.
B. Men’s March madness – Michigan, Juwan Howard and the handshake ritual.
5. Sports as an apt metaphor in compliance communications and training.
6. Odds and ends.
7. Takeaways and a Theme Song.
Resources
Jason Meyer on LinkedIn
Leadgood
Eight Mindsets Podcast
In this first episode for 2022 of The Ethics and Compliance Library, host Lauren Siegel explores “Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution” by Rob Chesnut. The book is about Rob’s professional career and his work in compliance, ethics, and integrity at AirBnB. This book lays out developed a popular interactive employee program, Integrity Belongs Here, to help drive ethics throughout the culture at the company. Siegel gives an overview and analysis of the book, interviews Rob, and then interviews Darryl Cyphers Jr., the Director of Legal Compliance at Klaviyo. Her interview with Cyphers brings the book to life for E&C leaders and challenges us all to think differently. As always, continue the conversation in the Converge community.
Lauren Siegel on LinkedIn
The Convercent by One Trust, Converge Community
Tom Fox welcomes Alison Taylor on this episode of the Innovation in Compliance Podcast. Alison is the Executive Director of Ethical Systems, a collaboration between leading academics in behavioral science, systems thinking, and organizational psychology. She joins Tom to talk about ethics and how it relates to ESG, stakeholders, corporate culture, as well as what place Gen Z and Millennials have in this discussion surrounding ethics and compliance in the future.
Ethics & ESG
The roots of ESG are ethical in themselves. Alison explains to Tom that the basis of ESG is that businesses ought to do good, and do no harm. “ESG really tries to deal with everything that’s beyond compliance…that companies should not just not break the law, but they should do stuff about climate change and human rights and that kind of thing,” she adds. ESG has a say about what businesses should and shouldn’t be doing in society. The problem in recent times is that ESG is more so related to the profit side of business and not what stakeholders care about. When ethics and ESG are treated in relation to the business case, they are treated as metrics and not important corporate social responsibility.
Ethics, Stakeholders and Culture
Tom asks Alison to explain whether a conversation about ethics can be had across a broader group of stakeholders. “The idea that a company could perfectly reflect the ethics and values of every one of its stakeholders is totally ridiculous,” she begins. What leaders should think about instead is the impact they have on their stakeholders. “Rather than talking about what we should and shouldn’t do, a conversation could be that companies should manage the negative impacts that they have on their stakeholders and try and enhance the positive ones,” Alison remarks. Another important thing for leaders to think about is if their organizations have a culture where employees don’t feel safe to bring up ethical issues. The best ‘speak-up’ program won’t be worth anything if your users don’t utilize it.
A Place for Gen Z and Millennials
Tom asks Alison to elaborate on where she sees the roles of Gen Z and Millennials in driving the discussion about ethics in the future. “Younger generations want a meaningful career, and they care much much more whether a business is ethical or unethical,” Alison states. If companies want to attract young people, they have to perform ethically and be known for doing so. Younger generations are much more tech-savvy, so if a business is operating unethically, they are going to leak that information via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. This can be detrimental to a companies’ public reputation. Shutting down ethical discussions internally is not the way for businesses to go when hiring younger generations. “If you think [that if] you can shut down this conversation, you’re gonna shut down internal conflict – what you’re actually doing is just pushing this outside and making it way worse,” Alison stresses.
Resources
Alison Taylor | LinkedIn | Twitter
Ethical Systems
Ethics and compliance professionals believe in their mission – if they did not, they would not be in the field. E&C professionals believe in the power of positive thinking, ethical conduct, and the overall ability of an organization to operate as an “ethical” company. They work for their mission, and it is a positive mission. The New Year is a great time for E&C professionals to take stock of their compliance programs and plot out a path forward. Luckily for most compliance professionals, there are many opportunities to advance their objectives. E&C is poised for another big jump on the corporate governance ladder, and this is a big year for E&C professionals to push their respective companies to support such efforts. There are three significant trends that will continue to play out this year that create opportunities. These three trends, which I will discuss in greater detail, are:
(1) the continued emphasis on the importance of corporate culture;
(2) the importance of ESG and, in particular, the “G” element;
(3) the current Administration’s aggressive enforcement and regulatory initiatives.
In this episode, Michael Volkov reviews these important ethics and compliance trends.
12 O’Clock High, a podcast on business leadership brings together stories from history, the arts and movies, research and current events to consider leadership lessons. Each year during Oscar season we look at four Best Picture-winning movies and draw leadership lessons from them. It is also a way to watch some great movies and garner some leadership lessons. In this episode, we consider the movie Gladiator. Highlights include:
• Marcus Aurelius’ and Stoicism
• The only constant is change.
• Life isn’t always fair but that is not what matters.
• Lead from the front and walk the walk.
• Inspire great teamwork. Create an atmosphere for success of others.
• There is no losing, only winning and learning.
• Train hard and practice.
• Jubo
• Proximo
Resources
8 Virtues of Gladiator Leadership
5 Powerful Life Lessons from Gladiator
Six Leadership Lessons from Gladiator
Down to Business: Seven leadership lessons from Maximus
Today’s episode was inspired by the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership and its Faculty Fellows who recently put together their annual list of Best Books for Ethical Leaders. In it, they share books published during the 2021 “that bridge the worlds of business and academia and provide practical insights that can help leaders live and work more ethically.” In this second of two episodes of the Sunday Book Review, I conclude my exploration of their list.
· There is Nothing for you Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century by Fiona Hill, selected by Jessica McManus Warnell.
· Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross, selected by Christopher Adkins.
· Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant, selected by John Sikorski.
· Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball by Luke Epplin, selected by Brian Levey.
· Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life by Luke Burgis, selected by Brett Beasley.
Today’s episode was inspired by the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership and its Faculty Fellows who recently put together their annual list of Best Books for Ethical Leaders. In it, they we share ten books published during the 2021 “that bridge the worlds of business and academia and provide practical insights that can help leaders live and work more ethically.” Over the next two episodes of the Sunday Book Review, I will be exploring their list.
· You Have More Influence Than You Think by Vanessa Bohns, selected by Brett Beasley.
· Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert, selected by Jessica McManus Warnell.
· Seven Deadly Economic Sins: Obstacles to Prosperity and Happiness Every Citizen Should Know by James Otteson, selected by Brett Beasley.
· A Catechism for Business: Tough Ethical Questions and Insights from Catholic Teaching (3rd edition) selected by John Sikorski.
As Aaron Rogers is fined less than a player who had his shirttail untucked, he and Jay are back to reflect on some of the top compliance and ethics stories in the Immunized Not Vaccinated edition.
Stories
1. Will corruption forestall climate change? Monica Guy in the FCPA Blog.
2. Driving culture through sustainability. Linda Luty in Risk and Compliance Matters.
3. Stope little problems from becoming big ones. Mike Volkov in Corruption Crime and Compliance.
4. More on ‘effective compliance’? Michael Julian in the FCPA Blog.
5. What is ‘success’ in ABC compliance? Matthew Stephenson in GAB.
6. Revisiting your whistleblower program. Debevoise Plimpton lawyers in Compliance and Enforcement.
7. The role of BOD in ESG. Jurgita Ashley and Randy Vai Morrison in Harvard Law Forum on Corporate Governance.
8. Disclosing cybersecurity issues. Matt Kelly in Radical Compliance.
9. Mashreqbank fined $100MM by DFS. Jaclyn Jaeger in Compliance Week. (sub req’d)
10. Tailoring a Design Thinking program that fits for you. Carsten Tams on LinkedIn.
Podcasts and Events
11. How can a 1st responder deal with PTSD? One way is through poetry. Check out my interview with Detective Ed Gillespie, Policeman Poet of Baltimore in a very special episode of Greetings and Felicitations.
12. Are you exasperated? Then check, F*ing Argentina. In this podcast series co-hosts Tom Fox and Gregg Greenberg, author of F*ing Argentina explore the current American psyche of being overworked, over leveraged, overtired and overwhelmed. Find out about modern America’s exasperation with well…exasperation. In Episode 9, a lost purse and panic in Shubert Alley.
13. This month on The Compliance Life, I visit with Wendy Badger, CCO at Tennant. In Part 1, she details her academic career and early professional life. In Part 2, changing ladders to advance your career.
14. In a sponsored podcast series, I visit with 6clicks on their innovative GRC solutions. In Episode 1, Joe Schorr on the hub and spoke approach. In Episode 2, Andrew Robinson on AI and ML in GRC. In Episode 3, Stephen Walter on building a content library. In Episode 4, Heather Buker on producing audit ready reports. In Episode 5, Ant Stevens on what’s next for 6clicks.
15. Next week, I am running a 5-part series on Understanding Lyme Disease. The episodes will post daily at 10AM. You can check out all episodes on the Greetings and Felicitations podcast. Episode 1: Origins and Evolution; Episode 2: The Diagnosis Dilemma; Episode 3: Treatment and Innovation; Episode 4: Protection and Immunity; Episode 5: Looking Ahead
16. How does a Compliance Bible become a best-seller? Check out Tom’s appearance on the C-Suite Network’s Best Seller TV to find out. Purchase The Compliance Handbook, 2nd edition here.
Tom Fox is the Voice of Compliance and can be reached at tfox@tfoxlaw.com. Jay Rosen is Mr. Monitor and can be reached at jrosen@affiliatedmonitors.com.
