It’s always a good time to think strategically about your career, but the events of the past year have created a wave of self-reflection on our working life, personal fulfillment, and shared mortality. For some, this has resulted in a keen focus on financial security and evaluating where we stand in relation to our work. Many jobs were eliminated or shifted over the past year, and more change is expected as organizations adapt to a post-vaccine world.
With this mindset, for the first time in its history, Compliance Week dedicated the final day of its 16th annual National Conference to career development. Based on reception from attendees, audience reaction, and high attendance, the timing was ideal. Compliance professionals were presented with wisdom, insights, and guidance from a broad range of career experts.
I had the honor of delivering the opening keynote on cultivating self-awareness. In my experience, a lack of self-awareness is the root cause of the most common obstacles to career upward mobility. It’s key to leading effectively, especially as you climb the ranks.
Self-awareness is the ability to be introspective—to accurately reflect on your behaviors, emotions, and attitudes. As my colleague Dr. Tasha Eurich found in her extensive research, 95 percent of people believe they are self-aware—but only 10 to 15 percent of us actually are. This leads to blind spots that can significantly derail your career (or cost you your job).
Following my keynote, a panel of compliance and recruitment experts provided a wealth of insights for career search and growth. Maurice Gilbert, managing partner and compliance search specialist at Conselium Compliance Search, put things in perspective.
“Our profession is only 18 years old. We are in the toddler stage,” he said. Compare this to the legal profession, which has been around for thousands of years.
At compliance’s inception, not knowing the skills that were needed, organizations hired former prosecutors for the role to bully and scare the business into submission. In contrast, we have entered an enlightened era, with the compliance officer as a business partner who inspires and educates.
To move the profession forward, Gilbert passionately advocated the need to tie compliance directly to business strategy. He encouraged all compliance professionals to create succinct value statements that influence culture with a positive narrative. He advised colleagues to be active in our profession, speaking at conferences and maintaining a presence on social media.
Mark Gonska, an experienced outplacement and career search coach who has participated in more than 8,000 employee terminations, shared some deadly myths of career self-sabotage. The first: “My work will speak for itself.”
“No, it won’t,” replied Gonska. You need to find effective ways to share your contribution and convey how you add value.
Second myth: “My boss is the silent type—no news is good news.” No news might mean your boss sees no value in what you are doing, which is dangerous for your career. Be proactive and share your contributions. “Boss management” is your responsibility.
David Ciullo, CEO of Career Management Associates, focused on the need for compliance professionals to be viewed as delivering results to the C-suite every day. He stressed the importance of asking the right questions on a consistent basis and having an accurate perception of how others estimate your value. Lastly, Ciullo emphasized the value of “getting to yes” and ensuring you tee up asks with how you can help your stakeholders—not what you need.
Mary Shirley, global head of culture of integrity and compliance education at Fresenius Medical Care, gave sage advice on navigating a career search. Reflecting on the lost jobs over the past year, Shirley encouraged colleagues to support each other. For job seekers, she advocated savvy and thoughtfulness while searching.
“Cold” asks (when you don’t know someone well) are tough, so tread carefully and diplomatically versus “warm” asks—when you approach a colleague with whom you’ve already built a relationship. Reciprocity is a key principle: How can you help the person you’re asking?