Please don’t hesitate to call me about anything any time.
It is wise to have someone who has managed a compliance and ethics program on your board. But I have 18 compliance professionals on my board. As you can imagine, it can be a little unnerving for a CEO. Today I wore the same sweater for the second time this week. I feel like a rebel. There may be consequences.
Sure, SCCE & HCCA occasionally put on a belt and suspenders, but I take great comfort in keeping my distance from total disaster. Our board knows every trick in the book with regard to preventing, finding, and fixing problems. It’s probably easier for me than most CEOs, because I actually appreciate the value of getting it right. On our board, I have an expert I can consult in every crevice of risk to make sure I get it right. Does it hinder our business model? Not in the least, and I have proof. We have grown consistently for 21 years. We have built a very large financial reserve. We are now using some of the reserve for our next big endeavor. We have built respect in the compliance world. We have taken big business risks just like every other kind of business, and in my wholly biased opinion, we have crushed it. The idea that compliance hurts business is BS.
