by Karen M. Leet
Been thinking a lot lately. About power. About being empowered. About having what I need to do my job as a corporate compliance officer. About who I am, what authority I might or might not have and what authority I need to do my job the way it needs to be done.
Never really, really thought about the power needed to do the job. Never actually took a long, hard look at just how much authority I do or do not have as a corporate compliance officer.
It never even occurred to me before to wonder if I do have the power, the authority, the chops to be what I need to be and do what I need to do.
Just heard about an assessment project. A sort of test, I guess, to help a compliance officer to evaluate his or her actual job status. As in do I have the authority, the power, the boots on the ground “right stuff” to do the job? To actually do the job?
It’s just something I never really took seriously. Never really faced a serious, strong and powerful challenge to who I am and what my job entails.
The more I hear about this recent project, the more it draws me, pulls me in, opens me up to taking authority seriously. As in do I have the authority to back up my decisions, my findings, my advice to the higher ups. Do I have the authority to protect all the other compliance professionals working in this company when they do their jobs?
It’s actually very simple. This question I’m only just now starting to ask myself. This process I follow. This major portion of my work.
They tell me the test asks the actual essential question for any and every compliance officer – “How empowered are you really?”
That stops me cold.
That makes me think hard.
That makes me ask myself some pretty darned hard questions.
And the more I think about my job as a compliance officer, the more doubts I discover just under the surface.
Somehow I’ve never really checked whether I do have the authority I should have, the authority I need to have, the authority I must have – to do the job. To prevent serious problems. To stop rule breaking at any and every level. To stand up, stand firm, stand strong.
In short, the essential question in my mind is clear.
Can I do my job?
Can I stop illegal choices, actions, behaviors at any level? Do I have the authority to actually do this job?
Because if I do not have the authority to protect everyone at every level in this business, then what am I here for? Who am I, if I do not have the clout to stand firm and protect anyone and everyone here?
My job matters. My job really matters. I have responsibilities here. But do I have the authority I need here? Do I have the power here to do this job, to protect all of us, at every level?
And how do I find out for sure? This test I’ve heard of sounds like I need it. A CECO Power Assessment Tool – yeah, it’s exactly what I need.
© 2024 K. Leet
What do you think?
Do you have power to do the job?
Can you protect others?
Do you need that Power Assessment Tool?
Where can you find the Power Assessment test?
Watch for it – coming soon on this newsletter – remind your colleagues where to find it.
These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.
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