Innovation in Compliance with Tom Fox

This week’s guest is Josh Elledge of Up My Influence, an influencer company that helps turn their clients into celebrities, as well as build sales systems for them. Josh chats with Tom Fox about the importance of building customer relationships, and he shares a process-oriented approach to doing so. Building InfluenceTom reflects that your brand is not your image; your brand is your relationship with your customer. Josh comments that he chose his company name to speak to his market’s pain point: they want to build their influence and authority. He helps them implement simple processes to make that happen, he says. His podcast, The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, is one such step. “I think that everybody has a message that could possibly impact the world. My job is to help you get access as quickly as possible… All you gotta do is just focus on serving, serving, serving; going from platform to platform; …and just do it with a… relentless, unceasing devotion,” he says.Preparation and StorytellingTom comments on the educational content Josh sends to his podcast guests to help them prepare for their interview. Josh responds that it’s a win-win-win for everybody: he helps his guests be prepared so that his audience can fall in love with them. “My job [as a guest],” he says, “is to show up and deliver as much value as I possibly can in a short amount of time as possible. So prep is important.” He talks about the importance of storytelling in the sales process. First, he advocates spending time with your customers and giving them value for free. “If people get enough time and enough value from you on the front end, they're going to build that belief that you can solve their problems, and they will pay you for that.” Next, he says that your customers should be able to substitute themselves for the experience of the person in your story. This way, they’re building up a mental narrative about how your company can help them. This leads to sales, Josh says.Give First“You’re in business to bring far more value than what you ask for in return,” Josh points out. He believes in giving lots of value first. Your prospects will let you know when they're ready to take the next step, he says. Focus on building relationships. He invites listeners to explore his website to learn how they systematize relationship-building. Make it easy for customers to spend time with you, he says. “Just stop treating people like numbers and sales prospects! Just make it ridiculously easy for people to spend time with you.”ResourcesUpMyInfluence.comThe Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast

Welcome to a special five-part podcast series, A Conversation with Convercent and StoneTurn: From the Code of Conduct to Risk Assessment to Continuous Improvement. This week’s podcast series is jointly sponsored by Convercent and StoneTurn. Over the course of the series we will explore the impacts on corporate compliance programs from the recently released 2020 Update to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (2020 Update). We focus on investigations, data analytics, evaluating compliance programs, internal reporting and corporate culture. Participants in this podcast series include: Asha Palmer, Convercent Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer (CECO) and Executive Vice President (EVP) of CONVERGE; Rex Homme, Michele Edwards, and Stephen Martin, all Partners at StoneTurn. In this first episode, we take a deep dive with Homme into conducting investigations and ensuring consistent outcomes.Join us tomorrow, as Asha Palmer, Convercent Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer (CECO) and Executive Vice President (EVP) of CONVERGE discusses best practices in internal reporting.ResourcesFor more information on StoneTurn, check out their website, here. For more information on Convercent, check out their website, here.To download a copy of the  Convercent Interactive Self-Assessment based on the 2020 Update to the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs, click here.

I was recently interviewed by Suparna Goswami about the Novartis corruption enforcement actions, both the US domestic and the international FCPA matter. Incidents of fraud at pharmaceutical giant Novartis that resulted in over $1 billion in fines worldwide might have been avoided if the company's compliance team used data analytics to detect patterns, says Thomas Fox, a compliance evangelist and author.The Novartis case involved illegal payments and perks provided to physicians in exchange for prescribing certain drugs.Too often, corporations' compliance teams lack access to the data that's necessary to do their jobs, Fox says in a video interview with Information Security Media Group. Pharmaceutical companies, for example, track doctors that prescribe their drugs. "The data is there. But the compliance function simply does not have access to that data".In this interview, highlights include: Novartis' fraudulent practices and how the entire episode played out in multiple countries; Important lessons for compliance officers from this fraud case; Why compliance teams usually are not able to leverage data analytics;

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is an expert in the field of disaster avoidance. He joins Tom Fox on this week’s show to talk about his work, including how he helps leaders avoid decisions that lead to disaster.Avoiding Disaster“Avoiding a disaster is always preferable to recovering from it. So I believe to avoid disaster we have to understand where disasters come from. There are only two things that lead to disasters, and they both come from our decisions,” says Gleb. “...One is an active decision where we make a decision ourselves that leads to a pretty disastrous situation… The other type of disaster comes from when we fail to make a decision that we need to make to avoid a disaster.” Glen says that his mission is to help leaders recognize and overcome the cognitive biases that lead them into making disastrous decisions. These cognitive biases are the decision-making patterns that we fall into because of how our brain is wired, he points out. Our instincts are not wired for the modern environment. Magical ThinkingTom asks Gleb to describe the top three judgment errors - ‘magical thinking’ - leaders make that lead to disaster. Gleb responds that these are:  Overconfidence bias - research shows that the more confidence a leader exhibits, the worse their business performs. “When we should be confident is after we make a very carefully considered, data-driven, informed evaluation and then implement that decision,” he says. Sunken cost bias - leaders tend to stick with a plan even when evidence shows it isn’t working, and they should pivot. Confirmation bias - looking at the world in a way that confirms their beliefs, instead of letting evidence inform their vision.  Stakeholder EngagementGleb outlines three social intelligence methods leaders should employ to achieve their leadership goals. These are empathetic listening, rapport building, and curious questioning. These skills will help leaders influence and engage stakeholders. “People are not nearly aware of how much their emotions drive them,” he comments. He emphasizes that the essence of leadership is stakeholder engagement. He and Tom discuss helping leaders fight unconscious biases in their organizations. He shares practical ways leaders can overcome tribalism personally and within their businesses. ResourcesDisasterAvoidanceExperts.com Free video modules: Wise Decision Making GuideNever Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business DisastersThe Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Bias and Build Better Relationships

Gene Geiger of A-LIGN joins Tom Fox on this week’s show to discuss his company’s innovative compliance management platform, A-SCEND. Gene remarks that there was a market need to drive technology in the professional services space. “What we’ve been missing is driving automation and driving workflow and driving efficiency through technology, and that’s really what A-SCEND is meant to do. It’s meant to complement the people in the audit workflow to make the job as efficient and as automated as possible,” he says.Built For Users“The need for technology crosses multiple compliance standards,” Gene remarks. A-SCEND is built to comply with eight compliance standards in the cybersecurity industry. In addition, Gene says, users can input their own internal standards using the custom object module. He describes various features of the platform that helps clients automate their compliance workflow, and manage compliance tasks throughout the year, rather than just for the annual audit. A unique feature of A-SCEND is its ability to de-duplicate requests across multiple compliance standards, resulting in up to a 50% decrease in workload when preparing for audits. Gene points out how these innovative features allow their clients to do anytime, anywhere audits, and how both they and their clients were able to pivot easily to remote work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom asks how feedback is built into the platform. Gene outlines several mechanisms, including their advisory board, surveys, and their customer support system. “We are able to build an application for compliance management that really meets the needs of the users,” he says.The Future of Strategic ComplianceTom and Gene discuss the future of strategic compliance. Gene predicts that there will be movement towards benchmarking, AI-based review and evidence collection, and data-driven metrics.ResourcesA-lign.com

CEO of Omedym, Greg Dickinson joins Tom Fox in this week’s show to discuss his book, The Convenience Economy: B2B: Adapt Now or Pay the Price. They discuss an interesting equation about the value of convenience, and why giving convenience equals gaining control.The Cost of InconvenienceTom asks Greg to explain his equation, Friction = Frustration = Cost. Greg responds that if your process impedes your customer’s buyer journey, then that friction will cause them to feel frustration, which will ultimately cost you. He gives examples of B2B processes that, while developed to help a company flow, actually frustrate the customer. Times have changed, and customers are now independent. If your process is friction-rich, Greg says, customers will go someplace else. “If you have developed all your processes to deal with them in a way that is built on what you want - and it has no consideration for them, for their journey, for their experience - then you have really harmed your ecosystem... If we can give convenience, we gain control.”People Want to WatchGreg points out that COVID-19 has accelerated some of the areas discussed in his book. Companies now must rethink how to onboard suppliers: he recommends smart watchable assets. “When people want to learn, understand, discover and comprehend something that they have to use, they want to watch,” Greg remarks. “You can onboard and get your third parties embracing your policy if you can communicate with a watchable asset.” He explains why supplier enablement should now include “cost plus convenience plus enablement, plus being able to sustain when something happens.”Push vs ConsumeTom asks Greg about the push vs consume models. Greg explains the difference between the two approaches and why people want to consume information nowadays, not have it pushed at them. ResourcesGreg Dickinson on LinkedInOmedym.comThe Convenience Economy: B2B: Adapt Now or Pay the Price

Tom Fox welcomes Cody Rodriguez to this week’s episode of Innovation In Compliance. Cody is CEO of Iron Orchard, a small private oil and gas operator that continues to thrive even in the midst of a shutdown of the energy sector due to COVID-19. He and Tom discuss his company’s risk management approach and how it informs their corporate culture.Determining Commercial ViabilityTom asks Cody how they determined that Iron Orchard was a commercially viable idea. Cody responds that they had about 100 meetings with CEOs and investors, seeking their advice before deciding to go ahead and launch Iron Orchard. Even then, they decided to use their own funds for the first investments. “We want to make sure, just like in everything else we've ever done, that we did it ourselves and risked our own dollars before we ever risk anybody else's,” Cody explains. He describes how taking this approach led to increasing success as the company grew. People were willing to help them because of their humble approach. Cody says, “If you're willing to tell them how you think you could be better and how you think you could improve from their advice, people are generally very willing and open.” Tom adds that humility is an incredible leadership skill.Corporate Discipline and CultureTom comments that physical and financial discipline is a strategy that is embedded in Iron Orchard’s culture. “One of the biggest things that I learned was risk mitigation and capital discipline,” Cody responds. “For us, it's never doing something that we can't stand the risk of losing everything we just did. And if everything goes [wrong]... can we sustain ourselves?” He explains that every decision is made through collaboration and teamwork. These corporate values of discipline and collaboration are responsible for their survival and growth even in the midst of the pandemic. “If the assets can't - even at the worst of times - support the team, then the team needs either to work a little harder, a little smarter to make sure that we can manage even through the most difficult times,” Cody says.ResourcesIron-Orchard.cominfo@iron-orchard.com

Tom Fox and Lisa Ryan, this week’s guest, are both members of C Suite Radio and the National Speakers Association. Lisa spent 20 years in sales before embarking on her entrepreneurial journey in 2010. She brings a unique perspective to the subject of employee engagement, seeing it as an essential skill that leaders need to have.An Essential SkillIn Lisa’s view, employee engagement is greater productivity, greater institutional justice, better health and safety, and many other ways of enhancing workers’ lives. As such, leaders should see improving engagement as an essential skill. “When that business owner can make that connection with their employees,” Lisa points out, “that employee is going to give a lot more effort.” A Critical Part of Compliance and Corporate CultureTom comments, “If you focused on employee engagement, you would go a long way towards creating a viable and vibrant speak up culture and creating a two way street of communication.” Lisa agrees. She adds that people want to feel safe and know that if they approach their boss with a problem, their boss is going to take action on it. We’re wired for justice, she says. As such, engagement is a critical part of compliance.“Company culture took a long time to develop, and it’s not changing overnight,” Lisa says. When a company makes the decision to focus on improving engagement, they must first assess where they are and then be committed to taking strategic steps towards their long-term goal. She shares how she helps clients to make those changes, and emphasizes that culture change must start at the top then go through every department of the organization.On CuriosityTom says that one of the key characteristics compliance professionals must possess is curiosity. He asks Lisa to talk about her blog post about curiosity around relearning an old skill. She responds, “Sometimes we have so much knowledge of the things that we can do and then we go and chase that next shiny object… that what we were doing before that was totally working, that was totally part of our skill set, just kind of fades off to the background… So there’s always that being a constant student, not only of the new technology, ...but also knowing that there was a lot of that foundation that we came from that we don’t necessarily want to leave behind.” ResourcesLisaRyanSpeaks.comLisa@Grategy.comLisa Ryan on LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

Welcome to this special podcast series “In Conversation with K2 Intelligence FIN: Navigating an Increasingly Complex Sanctions Landscape”. This series is sponsored by K2 Intelligence, LLC. This week I have visited with Adam Frey, Managing Director, and Eric Lorber, Vice President at K2 Intelligence Financial Integrity Network (FIN). Over the week, we have reviewed the current sanctions landscape, discussed how to build a sanctions compliance program, walked listeners through what happens when you discover a sanctions breach or potential breach, considered new sanctions exposure. Today, Adam Frey and I conclude with Episode 5 by taking a look in that veiled land of the future by considering issues on the horizon and how to prepare for it.  ResourcesFor more information on K2 Intelligence FIN's Sanctions Risk Advisory Services, click here.For more information on Navigating the Sanctions Minefield: What Every Global Business Should Know, click here.

Welcome to the podcast series: In Conversation with K2 Intelligence FIN: Navigating an Increasingly Complex Sanctions Landscape. This series is sponsored by K2 Intelligence FIN. This week I will visit with  Adam Frey, Managing Director at Intelligence FIN and Eric Lorber, Vice President at Intelligence FIN.Over the week, we will review the current sanctions landscape, discuss how to build a sanctions compliance program, walk listeners through what happens when you discover a sanctions breach or potential breach, consider new sanctions exposure and conclude with a look in that veiled land of the future by considering issues on the horizon. In this Episode 4, I am joined by Eric Lorber regarding new sanctions risk exposures for commercial corporations and in the shipping space. Join us tomorrow for our concluding Episode 5 with Adam Frey as we peer down the road and consider some issues on the horizon for sanctions compliance. ResourcesFor more information on K2 Intelligence FIN's Sanctions Risk Advisory Services, click here.For more information on Navigating the Sanctions Minefield: What Every Global Business Should Know, click here.