Author and General Counsel Bjarne Tellman on Culture and Building an Outstanding Legal / Compliance Team

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Author and General Counsel Bjarne Tellman on Culture and Building an Outstanding Legal / Compliance Team

Bjarne Tellman knows how to build a great compliance / legal team.  He’s in charge of 170 professionals across six continents at Pearson, the world’s largest education company.  He’s also the author of the new book, “Building an Outstanding Legal Organization: Battle-Tested Strategies from a General Counsel.”  Bjarne and I met when my company Spark Compliance Consulting was working with Pearson on an anti-bribery project.  I was fascinated by his whole book, but specifically on the elements of culture creation and change.  Bjarne was kind enough to sit down with me to share some fascinating insights, including:

  • How can you test whether there is alignment between what the company says it values are and the actual behaviour of employees and managers
  • The challenges of changing a legacy culture and what to do about them
  • Bjarne’s top three tips for creating an outstanding compliance and legal team

[Kristy]: In your book, you say, “Values and belief create outcomes.”  Can you explain what you mean by that?

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Give Yourself a Head Start

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Give Yourself a Head Start

I have two friends who run marathons.  Both always want to quit around mile 20, but somehow, when they see the finish line, they sprint to the end.  How could someone so fatigued at mile 20 be gazelle-like at the end?  Simple - it’s human nature to be energized when getting close to a goal.

 

In the book Before Happiness, Harvard researcher Shawn Archer describes this phenomenon of human nature in detail.  It turns out that the perception that you’ve already begun achieving your goal can make you more likely to achieve it.  Here are three simple ways to apply this insight to your life in compliance.

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"We Won't Give Up" (OECD Blog)

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"We Won't Give Up" (OECD Blog)

“We won’t give up,” said Drago Kos, Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery.  We won’t give up, he repeated.  Even though several countries that have signed the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials haven’t yet enforced their anti-bribery laws through a prosecution?  Even though some countries still won’t sign onto a treaty that binds parties to implement laws banning bribery of foreign officials?  Even though every year there are yet more corporate scandals and fines?  No, he said, we won’t give up.

Yesterday I was in Paris chairing a panel discussion on ISO 37001 at the Ethic Intelligence Standard and Guidelines in Anti-Corruption Compliance at the OECD Conference Center.  The best and brightest minds in international anti-corruption, including numerous high-level government officials and ministers, came together along with CCOs and law firm leaders to discuss the intersection of the public sector, private enterprise, government and Non-Governmental Organizations with respect to bribery.  What can we do to foster dialogue?  How can we work better together?  And most of all, why is this problem so pervasive?

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Finding the Elusive Work/Life Balance

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Finding the Elusive Work/Life Balance

Are you having a tough time coming back to work this week?  Already missing the sweet memories of summer: seaside, mountain views, freshly-cut grass.  If you’re in the U.S., you’ve just come back from Labor Day weekend, and in England the week before was the three-day end-of-summer holiday.  It’s back-to-work, back-to-school, welcome-the-autumn time.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article proclaiming the end of summer, and the beginning of a time of more focus and routine.  It noted that, for some Type-A people, the return to a predictable schedule can be comforting. 

Most of us long for work/life balance.  We love our work and find meaning in it, but we also need to recharge in relaxation, spend time with our families and friends, and get away from the pressure of the office.  But how do we do that when our jobs demand so much of us?  I’ve found the most effective way to do this is to follow the flow of the seasons.  Rather than demand that work and life be in balance all the time (which I’ve found impossible), going with the seasons of work has made a massive difference in my ability to be the most efficient and effective worker I can be, while honoring the need to care for my personal life.  Here’s how to do it…

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