Uping Your Promotability with Amii Barnard-Barn

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Uping Your Promotability with Amii Barnard-Barn

I am so excited to share with you my interview with the one and only Amii Barnard-Bahn. She’s here to talk about promotions – how to get more money, how to position yourself for the next level, and how to build the career of your dreams.

Kristy:

Today I am here with Amii Barnard-Bahn. She is an Executive Coach, a former Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Human Resources Officer who Forbes magazine called, “one of the top coaches for legal and compliance executives.”

You just put out a fantastic new book called The Promotability Index. Can you tell us a bit about what the Promotability Index is, how you came up with it and how people can use it?

Amii:

Absolutely. I believe in radical self-reliance in your career. You want to be committed to your company while you're there. You want to do your best job you want to learn, but ultimately we rent our jobs. They're temporary. And as long as we have that mindset, we're, future-proofing our career because we need to make sure that we're continually learning new skills, whether they're compliance-related or whether they're leadership-related, or general application.

I created the book because while I was in HR, I saw who got promoted, who got fired, who stayed, who went, who we retained, and people that should've gotten promoted, that didn't.

I was highly motivated to reverse engineer that process as best I could and that's how the Promotability Index was born.

Kristy:

In the book, you identify five elements that make people promotable. Why don't you tell us what are those five elements?

Amii:

I start with self-awareness - that's the first one. The second is…

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New Law!?! 20+ Places to Go for the Best Information

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New Law!?! 20+ Places to Go for the Best Information

It happened again this morning. I got an alert from a law firm I follow telling me that there is yet another new privacy law. This one is in Colorado, a state that now joins Virginia and California in creating requirements for consumer access to their data under threat of penalty. There’s a new draft European directive on third-party due diligence requirements which we need to follow, sanctions that seem to change every day - not to mention the decisions of the courts and prosecutorial guidance that functions to create de facto requirements on our programs. It can feel completely overwhelming trying to find out about and keep the information straight.

Where can you find information you can trust that will be helpful? Here are some tried and true sources to help.

Law Firm Alerts

Many law firms publish alerts when new laws come into force or are in the final stages of being passed. It’s critical to get on one or more law firm’s lists. I am a former Gibson Dunn attorney, so I’m particularly partial to them, especially for their FCPA/Anti-bribery materials. At many firms, you can sign up for their alerts without being a client. You can even choose the practice areas for which to get alerts.

Industry Blogs

There are some fantastic industry blogs that will help you to navigate new laws. Subject-specific blogs can be highly useful. I like the FCPA Blog and Tom Fox’s blog for anti-bribery and Michael Volkov’s for sanctions/trade compliance. More generally, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) has a terrific blog with a huge number of contributors, as does the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) (if you’re working in health care). We here at Compliance Kristy also provide updates on new laws as they come out. Matt Kelly’s Radical Compliance blog follows the laws affecting the profession as well.

Magazines…

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Don't Panic! It's probably not you!

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Have you ever had your boss yell at you for no reason at all?

It probably wasn’t personal.

You won’t know all the information, so their actions won’t be based on what you did.

Next time, re-frame the story in a positive way and then you can respond in a positive way.

Have you ever thought the worst when you’ve been yelled at?

#positivethinking #glasshalffull #conflictmanagement

To the far side of the world: Your 5-minute guide to Schrems II and Standard Contractual Clauses

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To the far side of the world: Your 5-minute guide to Schrems II and Standard Contractual Clauses

Data is everywhere and it is more valuable than oil. In the Digital Age companies depend on building up customer profiles so they can better understand and sell to those customers. It is estimated that our data will be worth $197.7 billion by 2022 – more than the total value of American agricultural output.[1]

But there are strict rules in place around when, where and how you are allowed to transfer that data out of the UK or the EU. In this article, “GDPR” refers to both the UK and EU GDPR.

What is the new UK adequacy decision all about?

In June 2020, the EU Commission agreed that the UK will be on the EU’s safe list of countries for, at least, the next 4 years. This means that data can be sent unrestricted from the EU (or EEA) to the UK.

What are these Standard Contractual Clauses (‘SCCs’) I keep hearing about?

Standard Contractual Clauses or ‘SCCs’ are basically a set of clauses that you ask the receiving company to sign. In signing them, the receiving company agrees to provide an adequate level of data protection for the data they receive.

What are the new SCCs and how are they different from the old ones?

New SCCs were approved by the European Commission (EC) in June 2021. They were updated to comply with GDPR and the Schrems II decision. To rely on the SCCs you must use the precise wording laid down by the EC.

The new SCCs contain clauses for:

a) Controller to Controller transfers

b) Controller to Processor transfers

c) Processor to Processor transfers

d) Processor to Controller transfers

This means you can choose based on the type of transfer you are making ie based on whether the data exporter and importers are ‘controllers’ or ‘processors’ under GDPR in respect of the personal data processing. c) and d) are new and these types of clauses didn’t exist under the old SCCs.

The new SCCs also allow for multiple data exporters to be involved in the contract and for new parties to the contract to be added at a later stage.

What is this Schrems II case all about?…

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Four Steps to Winning an Entrenched Fight

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Four Steps to Winning an Entrenched Fight

Tempers were escalating as was the loudness of the voices in the room. Each side of the table grew more recalcitrant and less willing to listen. Barry, the leader of one group, rolled his eyes and stood up to leave the room. A voice from the other side of the table said, “You know, you’re completely right on that issue.” Barry sat back down, ready to hear the other side out. The impasse had passed.

When you’re sure you’re right, it can be difficult to give an inch. It’s easy to get so entrenched that you’re no longer listening or engaging in a dialogue. If that happens, it’s time to get strategic. To make progress, follow these four steps.

Step 1: Look for something that you agree with

Telling someone that they’re right is disarming and works in your favor. Examine all of the points the person is making. There is almost certainly a place to find common ground.

Let’s say that you’re in a meeting in which management is pushing back on sending an ethics and culture survey to the company. They argue that it’s too expensive and that employees have compliance fatigue after taking the recent Code of Conduct training. In response, you could try something like:

  • I completely agree with you that we need to protect against compliance fatigue

  • You’re so right about preventing compliance fatigue

  • I love that you brought that up because we have to watch out for compliance fatigue

  • You’re so smart to focus on preventing compliance fatigue

These statements will catch them off guard. The phrase “off guard” is just that – the person lowering their guard, which gives you the opportunity to move to the next step.

Step 2: Avoid “but” - use “and” Instead

Once you’ve agreed with the adversary,

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Five Crucial Traits of Successful Compliance Entrepreneurs

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Five Crucial Traits of Successful Compliance Entrepreneurs

Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss? Nearly everyone has. The freedom to choose your own hours, pick your projects, work when you want to work, and charge what you want to charge is a heady combination. But some people are better suited to the entrepreneurial life than others.

Compliance and Ethics is a fast-growing field, especially when the broader GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) are brought into the mix. Now is a great time to join the ranks of entrepreneurs in our growing space. But do you have what it takes?

In honor of the publishing of Kirsten Liston, Joe Murphy and my new book, The Compliance Entrepreneur’s Handbook, here are five crucial traits of successful compliance entrepreneurs. Without these, it will be difficult to succeed.

Trait One: Tenacity

When I was 18, I spent a summer working as a receptionist for a paper company. I was having a hard time understanding the complicated communications system, but I stuck with it until I had it mastered. The manager called me “tenacious,” which was a word I had to look up. Since that time, tenacity has been my favorite word.

Tenacity involves being determined, especially when things are difficult. It involves pushing through hard times and cashflow crunches, as well times when you’re simply uninspired and don’t feel like getting out of bed.

Before starting your business, consider whether you’re committed to the six months to a year that it will likely take to become successful. Tenacity will be required.

Trait Two: Vision…

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