Guard Dogs to Protect What’s Right

I love dogs. I mean really, really love dogs. Always have. Always will. Had dogs as far back as I can remember. Mom and Dad loved dogs – I caught it from them. I grew up with dogs as part of my life.

So, of course, I still have a dog. Only one right now. But she’s fairly big. An armful. A lapful. She’s all mine. No sharing for me.

Her name’s Sadie, and she’s my sweetie. Anybody out there who loves dogs will get it. Sadie goes where I go. On walks. On rides. On vacations even sometimes.

Here’s the thing – I love Sadie. She’s my girl. But she’s also my protector. She’s my guard dog. Nobody gets near me unless Sadie checks them out first.

The other day I got to thinking about my Sadie and how she’s my guard dog, my protector, my safety. Nobody could ever get past my Sadie. She’s always close by, always aware, always ready to keep me safe.

And there it was. Right in my face.

My job. The work I do. The training I got and the updates that keep me aware and prepared.

It’s all part of my job. I’m a compliance professional. And in a way, my job makes me sort of like Sadie, my Sadie.

Like Sadie I’m always alert, always on guard, always ready to handle trouble any time I find it or it finds me.

I’m like a good guard dog. A very good guard dog. I am prepared for problems, for wrongdoing in all its endless shapes and sizes, for downright evil.

There are truly some evils in this world of ours. There are selfish people sometimes. Or cruel people. Or people who don’t care what rules, what laws they break. There are people who don’t care who they harm.

There are even people who don’t mean harm to others but they somehow slip and slide right into lawbreaking. Temptations can show up in all sorts of places, to all sorts of people, in all sorts of ways.

Even the best people – people with good intentions – can falter and fail, can even pull other good people down with them.

I’m the person – the guard dog in a sense – I’m that guard dog person ready to do my job. I’m here to stop problems before they get worse. Or to help the workers I serve to make right choices.

My job is important. It’s vital. It helps people make good choices. My job can halt workers from being misled into bad situations. My job is a lot like my Sadie, being sure we’re all safe.

My job helps everywhere where I work to stay aware, alert to wrong directions, aiming to do what’s right rather than make bad choices or wrong decisions.

That’s my job. That’s what I do as a compliance professional. That’s what all of us – who work in the compliance field – what all of us do.

I guess we are all – in a way – guard dogs of the world. That’s the work we do. A lot like my Sadie-girl, my powerful guard dog.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Have you ever felt like a guard dog?

How important is the job of a guard dog?

Who does a guard dog protect?

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