Thursday, January 28, 2021
Corporate Compliance Insights
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Articles
    • See All Articles
    • NEW: COVID-Related
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
  • Events
    • Webinars & Events
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • About CCI
    • Writing for CCI
    • NEW: CCI Press – Book Publishing
    • Advertise With Us
  • Articles
    • See All Articles
    • NEW: COVID-Related
    • Compliance
    • Ethics
    • Risk
    • FCPA
    • Governance
    • Fraud
    • Internal Audit
    • HR Compliance
    • Cybersecurity
    • Data Privacy
    • Financial Services
    • Leadership and Career
  • Vendor News
  • Jobs
  • Events
    • Webinars & Events
    • Submit an Event
  • Downloads
    • eBooks
    • Whitepapers
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Corporate Compliance Insights
Home Governance

CEOs Who Walk the Walk

by Michael Volkov
March 17, 2014
in Governance
CEOs Who Walk the Walk

This article was republished with permission from Michael Volkov’s Corruption, Crime & Compliance.

“Honesty: the best of all the lost arts.” – Mark Twain, 1902

I may be getting cynical in my old age, but honesty is a rare thing these days.  It seems to be getting more difficult to find honest people, especially when it comes to business.  Each day we read about another scandal involving another fraudster, corrupt politician or criminal motivated by greed.

Corporate ethics and compliance, however, appears to be gaining steam as an important part of every company.  Much of the success of a corporate ethics and compliance program depends on the “message” from the company’s CEO.

A CEO who is committed to ethics and compliance does not guarantee compliance.  But a CEO who is dishonest or ignores ethics and compliance is almost certain to bring about a corporate culture filled with risks and possible corruption and misconduct.

It is a breath of fresh air to meet and observe a CEO who “walks the walk” rather than just talks the talk.  Too many Chief Compliance Officers are satisfied with a CEO’s statement of commitment to ethics, whether it is in a newsletter or made at a corporate meeting.  A statement is only just a small piece of the puzzle.  It is one act – and it is not enough even if it is made every week, month, quarter or even every day.

CEOs establish a corporate culture in their companies when they act with a commitment to ethics and compliance.  Everything they do must demonstrate their commitment to ethics and compliance.  That is the only way they can bring honesty to the table.

Senior management, mid-level managers and employees know honest people when they see them.  A CEO who is committed to integrity will have no problem getting the message across so long as he or she acts in accordance with that principle.

The CCO’s challenge is to promote and communicate the CEO’s actions and commitment to ethics and integrity.  A monthly newsletter is not enough, a video statement before a training program is not enough, and a brief statement of commitment at an investor meeting is not enough.

A CEO’s actions have to be transparent, publicized and communicated through all available channels.  Sometimes the best way to spread the word is to watch as employee word of mouth communicates the message – the CEO’s actions and his or her words show that the CEO “walks the walk.”

A CCO who has the benefit of a CEO who walks the walk has a significant leg up in creating an effective compliance program in comparison to the CCO who struggles to elicit words and actions from the CEO that demonstrate ethics and integrity.

As the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.

A CEO who acts with integrity and ethics and talks about ethics and integrity is the best insurance policy that a company can have to ensure compliance.

We all look to our leaders to emulate the personality traits we admire and want to see in ourselves.  A CEO who exemplifies ethics and integrity does that in a powerful and effective way – for CCOs, the greatest blessing they can have in building an effective compliance program is a CEO who acts with ethics and integrity.


Tags: anti-corruptioncorporate governance
Previous Post

Machiavelli for Chief Compliance Officers

Next Post

10 Things I’ve Learned in Business

Michael Volkov

Michael-Volkov-leclairryan Michael Volkov is the CEO of The Volkov Law Group LLC, where he provides compliance, internal investigation and white collar defense services.  He can be reached at mvolkov@volkovlaw.com. Michael has extensive experience representing clients on matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, money laundering, Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), export controls, sanctions and International Traffic in Arms, False Claims Act, Congressional investigations, online gambling and regulatory enforcement issues. Michael served for more than 17 years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia; for five years as the Chief Crime and Terrorism Counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chief Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Counsel for the Senate and House Judiciary Committees; and as a Trial Attorney in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Michael also maintains a well-known blog: Corruption Crime & Compliance, which is frequently cited by anti-corruption professionals and professionals in the compliance industry.

Related Posts

illustration of executive standing center stage with team in silhouette behind him

COVID-19: Navigating the “CEO Moment”

January 13, 2021
clipboard with silver bow and new year's resolutions list on blue background

New Year’s Resolutions for the Board in 2021

January 11, 2021
PwC: Board Effectiveness – A Survey of the C-Suite

PwC: Board Effectiveness – A Survey of the C-Suite

December 28, 2020
quality level dial set to "high"

Caremark: Even the Highest Standard Can Be Met

December 23, 2020
Next Post
10 Things I’ve Learned in Business

10 Things I’ve Learned in Business

Access realtime data
Dynamic Risk Assessments with Workiva

Special Coverage

Special COVID page graphic

Jump to a Topic:

anti-corruption anti-money laundering/AML Artificial Intelligence/A.I. automation banks board of directors board risk oversight bribery CCPA/California Consumer Privacy Act Cloud Compliance communications management Coronavirus/COVID-19 corporate culture crisis management cyber crime cyber risk data analytics data breach data governance decision-making diversity DOJ due diligence fcpa enforcement actions financial crime GDPR GRC HIPAA information security KYC/know your customer machine learning monitoring ransomware regtech reputation risk risk assessment Sanctions SEC social media risk supply chain technology third party risk management tone at the top training whistleblowing
No Result
View All Result

Privacy Policy

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS Feed

Category

  • CCI Press
  • Compliance
  • Compliance Podcasts
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data Privacy
  • eBooks
  • Ethics
  • FCPA
  • Featured
  • Financial Services
  • Fraud
  • Governance
  • GRC Vendor News
  • HR Compliance
  • Internal Audit
  • Leadership and Career
  • Opinion
  • Resource Library
  • Risk
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • Whitepapers

© 2019 Corporate Compliance Insights

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Articles
  • Vendor News
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Whitepapers
  • eBooks
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

© 2019 Corporate Compliance Insights