Going, Going, Gone

Ok. That’s enough. It’s over.

This job. This workplace. This situation. The whole thing is wrong. All wrong.

It’s taken me a good long time to see it all. To even begin to recognize what’s going on. To fully understand.

I am the chief compliance officer for a giant corporation. I mean this place, these people, this whole operation is powerful. Really powerful. These people make things happen. They can move markets with their power.

When I first started here, I was impressed. I mean really, really impressed. The men and women heading up this huge business – they were powerful. They had influence. They got things done.

And they hired me. I felt good – really, really good – to get such an impressive job. To be at such a strong company. Things were happening. All the time.

I got swept along. It was like being caught up in a tidal wave.

I never took a closer look at who they were – who they really were. At what their goals were. At where they were going. At how they were getting there.

I chose to ignore hints that all was not right there. I turned my head.

When unexplainable things happened, I chose to look away. Not to ask too many questions. Not to dig too deeply into what might be going on in meetings where I was not invited, or business plans that I never got to see.

When something did touch me, worry me, make me uneasy – maybe even uncomfortable, I still kept my head down and didn’t push where I was told I “didn’t belong.”

I worked hard at being the best I could be. I kept focus on my job. I did training sessions (even when I could see people’s cynical reactions). I sent out updates on law changes. I was diligent at telling everybody what was right and what was wrong.

I thought I was doing the job.

I told myself I was being good at what I did.

I believed I was making things better for everyone.

I was sleepwalking. Ignoring all the hints of being out of the loop for the important decisions, for new business initiatives in potentially corrupt markets. Not paying attention to whether leadership was really on board with the company’s supposed “values.” Not objecting when my position was downgraded so I was reporting to a mid-level lawyer. Not looking into the rumors and whispers. Not objecting when the company decided to give someone an “early retirement package” after they objected to some “unspecified” misconduct in the C-suite.

But nobody can ignore these danger signals forever.

It started to get my attention.

I even talked with some of the higher ups.

Know what they told me?

They told me to just do my job – train people so we meet the legal requirements, write the policies so we are covered, close out the hotline calls promptly

I thought it over. I faced facts. I did an inventory of who I was, how I felt, how I chose to live my life, where I was going and how I would get there.

Now I’ve made my decision.

I’m going. Leaving for good. Taking my self-respect and professional commitment with me. Sharing my concerns with a few good, decent colleagues and offering to help so they don’t feel abandoned when I leave. My next company will have a senior management that believes in compliance and ethics, or I won’t be part of it.

It’s not easy. It’s not always easy to do the right thing. It’s a tough decision.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Is this person doing the right thing?

Why or why not?

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