Who’s Who vs. Who Gets It

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By Roy Snell
roy.snell@corporatecompliance.org
999 E/C Compliance Professionals Live and Breathe E/C 24/7/365

I am pretty frustrated with folks who are jumping on the compliance bandwagon, putting themselves out there as experts with no real experience or true understanding about the people in our profession and the challenges they face. Now if I was a better person, I would talk about those who get it right rather than pointing a negative finger at those who don’t. I am not that good, so I will probably go on ranting about these problems in the future. But at the risk of leaving out hundreds of people, I am going to mention a few people who really “get” our profession.

Anyone who follows my LinkedIn posts knows I think Kristy Grant-Hart gets it. Plus, her name is really cool. Not only has she worked in a Compliance department, she spends endless hours hanging out with compliance professionals to better understand the profession. She is also an insanely gifted speaker and writer. She is a little famous because she earned it. I would contrast that against the person who puts themselves out there as an expert because they had “15 minutes of compliance fame,” power, money, influence, a big title, or works at a famous company. Don’t get me wrong—there are people with one or more of those traits who put in the effort to understand and help the compliance profession. It’s the “fly in, grace us with their presence, give a presentation, and then fly back home” crowd that drive me a little crazy. You can’t teach us if you don’t spend the time to get to know us.

That brings me to other folks like Greg Triguba, Samantha Greves, Kim Lansford, Al Gagne, Dwight Claustre, Jonathan P. Armstrong, Lynda Hilliard, Kathleen Grilli, Urton Anderson (insert “etc.” 999 more times here please.) You may not know these people, because they don’t have power, money, influence, and haven’t had “15 minutes of compliance fame.” That’s kind of the point. They earned their understanding of our profession and can teach compliance because they spend time with other people in the profession. We don’t pick people to speak, write, or lead this organization because of their power, money, or influence. We pick people because they get it, have experience, spend time understanding others, care, and give more than they take. I love our Board, but they are not a list of Who’s Who from the list of Fortune 100 companies. They are from the list of “Who Gets It,” which really doesn’t exist and that’s not right.

My favorite example is Art Weiss. He is the compliance officer at Tamko Building Products. “Who is that,” you say? Exactly my point. Tamko happens to be a great company with great leadership and have great roofing material, but (no offense, Art) you guys have no cachet. Art has a really impressive resume with experience in enforcement, worked in compliance at Sears, and has a cool watch collection, but (sorry, Art) you are not at the center of our universe because you have cachet. Art, you are valuable to our profession because you have actually held the job, you take time to learn about the challenges your peers face, you can teach, and you really get it. You get it so well you can explain it in a simple manner. So what if the other guys have more money, power, and influence? I would still rather be you. I would pick you over the empty suit every day and twice on Sunday. You are who we are. You are why we are who we are. You are why we are helping so many people and why we are successful. And, I would pick the 999 other people like you that I have not mentioned, too.

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9 COMMENTS

  1. THANK YOU ROY!

    You are sharing similar thoughts that I have posted on HCCAnet for some time about “experts”.

    However, I am also well aware that now that you have shared these…people will definitely listen and this will benefit them in a number of ways.

    Whether our list of 999 of who gets it or not is the same different or shares some common names…one takeaway for me is clear.

    Find someone who gets it…and learn from them. Chances are that they are more than happy to give more than they take.

  2. Wow, wow, wow, well said Roy Snell! I am also less interested in fancy words and platitudes from a fancy and famous person. I will save my praise and attention for those who are sunburned and sweaty from fighting the good fight of compliance.

    On my list of 1000 is Frank Ruelas, who delivers HIPAA training that is informative and entertaining, and simplifies the complexities of HIPAA compliance so that everyone gets their “ah-hah, I get it” moment. Frank knows it, works it, teaches it and truly wants everyone to get it.

    • Thanks Toyi and Frank. Toyi you bring up another angle on this…. platitudes. I wrote a post about Corporate Speak. Its related problem. We need leadership to understand compliance and we have people trying to complicate the heck out of it with platitudes. They are not helping. Here is a link to the corporate speak post.

      https://www.complianceandethics.org/corporate-speak/

  3. I agree with Roy’s opinion and I would also like to say that compliance does have some common rules and processes, but it is not the same. When someone from a financial world tries to make healthcare fit the same mold does not always work. There are many things in our Healthcare Compliance that is very precise based on guidance from the feds. The OIG, Joint Commission, DHH and all the other federal entities. Even attorneys don’t know everything and that is why people specialize in Healthcare because you have to research out the rules that apply to Healthcare. So many companies try to say they have compliance and they understand compliance but they don’t really understand. You have to have staff (not always in one office) at the locations that understand compliance so that they can help lead and guide others to meeting the compliance requirements. Just saying you have a Compliance Officer does not mean that you are compliant. One person a lone cannot be the only one leading and guiding the process as it takes everyone getting on the band wagon of compliance.

  4. Thank you, Roy, for spreading the “Compliance Spirit”! The compliance world is very much about generosity and sharing. Maybe it’s because of the loneliness one can sometimes feel as a compliance professional or maybe it’s because the underlying causes we all fight for are noble and inspiring. Of all the names you quoted, I know two, Kristy and Jonathan and those two certainly are generously sharing their knowledge and expertise.

  5. Cecilia…I’m going to break ranks with you a bit on your comment about being along. I can tell you both firsthand and from my ongoing interaction with others, especially those on The Crew…

    You never have to feel alone…you literally have dozens if not hundreds of folks willing to listen, share, and lend a hand. One only needs to get involved on HCCAnet to see what I mean.

    Good luck!

  6. Thank you so much Roy!!! I’m humbled to be included on your list, especially along such compliance luminaries as the others you’ve named. Also – thanks! I like my name too. 🙂 Thank you so much!

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