Caring About Lifeboats

In a way, the book Voices in Compliance: Stories Inspired by The Front Line of Compliance and Ethics is for you, about you, about the work you do, the job you have, and the impact it has.

The impact it has. Your job. The work you do. On a daily basis.

In a way, the work you do is huge. Larger than you might realize. Bigger and more essential than you might ever know.

You might never see all the lives you touch in some way.

You might never meet the people your job helps, protects, inspires.

You might never hear anyone anywhere acknowledge your work.

You might never know lives your job helps keep safe.

You might never even hear about what your work does, changes made, protections put in place, laws enacted.

You might never be appreciated for the work you do.

At times, compliance might be a thankless job. A task no one seems to recognize or appreciate. A job where perhaps no one ever even says thank you.

Back to Titanic one more time. If you had been the compliance officer for Titanic. If you had fought with all your heart, mind and soul. If you had argued that lifeboats were a must, absolutely essential. If you had refused to back down (though Titanic was larger than any previous ships and actually met lifeboat law), and if you had refused to buckle or back down.

If you won that battle for the lives on board that mighty ship – each and every life – there would have been no horrific loss of life. Nobody would have been lost – every passenger safe and well.

That’s what compliance is all about.

In a way, every compliance person is a voice for what’s right. A voice for safety, for security, for protection. For everyone – for every single person affected by the work you do.

These stories draw from potentially real situations. Real circumstances. Real-life choices. Real-life risks. Real-life dangers.

You might never be a hero in the world’s eyes. You might never actually save lives – or you might never even know if you do save lives.

Your work may seem ordinary. No big deal. No crises. No potential calamities. No huge risks or catastrophes.

But, know what? You might never know if you have made a huge difference? In your job? With your coworkers? With your customers? With your entire workforce?

Compliance is that kind of job.

If you do your job. Do it well. Care about the job, the people you work with, the clients, the customers. Even the bosses, the owners, the board members.

If you do your job to the best of your ability – you work hard – you care deeply. You can make all the difference for anyone and everyone.

You might be the one person – in all the world – to make sure there’s a lifeboat for every single person. Every single one.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Are you fighting battles no one knows about?

Do you need to know you’ve made a difference?

Do you care about lifeboats?

These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.