Using Your Superpowers

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Compliance Superhero

turteltaub-adam-200x200-150x150By Adam Turteltaub
adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org

The world has fallen in love with superheroes.  Ant-Man is currently in theaters.  The Fantastic Four will be out in August.  Batman will soon be fighting Superman, and there are countless more superhero films in development and production than I can name or care to.

In all of these films the hero always has at least one superpower (Superman is gifted with many), or the ingenuity (and sometimes the deep pockets) to build all kinds of cool devices to make up for a lack of superpowers.

These powers are then deployed to defeat evil doers both great and small, although usually really,  enormously evil.

Compliance officers are, generally speaking, spared of having to combat true evil villains of epic proportions.  Typically the perpetrators of wrongdoing we deal with do not have a home hidden in a volcano and a car that shoots laser beams out of its headlights.

As a result, compliance officers don’t need to leap over buildings in a single bound, hurl fireballs, shrink to the size of an insect, or wield a gigantic hammer to slam down on the heads of miscreants.  Of course, that would be a tempting accessory to have.

[bctt tweet=”Thoughts on using your #compliance superpowers by @AdamTurteltaub” via=”no”]

But, from the compliance officers I have known, they do need some superpowers of their own to be successful.  Specifically they need the ability to:

  • Break down walls. They must overcome those who seek to keep compliance out of their business processes by smashing down walls of indifference, if not hostility
  • Be more powerful than any wind. No matter which way the corporate winds are blowing, a compliance officer must hold her ground and try to convince management to turn the ship to the right direction
  • Take over other people’s minds. Much of the job is about the ability to persuade, even to persuade adversaries.
  • Generate energy. The electric grid only provides so much.  You need your own energy to face the many challenges that come your way.
  • Draw power directly from the sun. It’s not an easy job, and each day brings new, often draining challenges.  You need to be able to face the dawn of new day not as a burden, but a source of new commitment.

Finally, you need the ability to do this all knowing that there is no key to the city, ticker tape parade or round of applause.  And in the end, the greatest superpower is the ability to do the job knowing it just has to be done.