ABA Bank Compliance - September/October 2014

First, Manage Yourself

Just go to any compliance-related event, and you’ll hear a host of technical jargon and buzzwords, and of course, what would we do without some acronyms, right? ...vendor risk management, fair lending, UDAP, CMS, lines of defense, risk assessments, policies, procedures, testing, BSA, CTR, SCRA, TILA, and the list goes on. With today’s environment, we also get immersed with QM, ATR, DFA, UDAAP (now two A’s with a focus on abusive), change management, expanded servicing, emerging risk, enhanced customer due diligence, and among others, a term frequently used at the ABA Regulatory Compliance Conference in June––fair banking. We are overwhelmed with all the technicalities of the regulations, both existing and new, let alone what is still to come. As we know, Dodd-Frank is far from being fully implemented.

However, it seems that as a group, we seldom talk about the “softer side” of compliance management, especially when it comes to managing first ourselves, followed by our staff and then our systems. The Institute of Certified Bankers, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, offers the Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager certification, or CRCM as we know it.

Note that it is not just Certified Regulatory Compliance Officer, but rather, an emphasis is on “Manager”. Even if we do not formally manage others, we still have the responsibility to manage ourselves, which ironically enough, can be one of our greatest challenges.

So how does one manage oneself?

First and foremost, know yourself.

While this may seem obvious, no one
else knows you better than yourself
(okay, I’ll admit some spouses know
us better than we are ourselves). Ask
yourself, what are your most valuable
strengths? What are your most danger-
ous weak spots? Do you work better in
the morning, afternoon, or evening?

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

Do you prefer colleagues call you on the phone, drop by your office, or reach out via email? Are you a reader or a listener? Now take all of those questions and answers—and then turn the tables.

For those you manage, is their optimal work time in the morning or evening?

Depending on the answer, this might give you some insight as a manager to provide a more flexible work schedule, accommodating those early birds or night owls. This will depend largely on the bank’s culture, and needs. Is it more valuable to have a compliance person sitting at their desk from 9 to 5, or is it more important that they work during their optimal peak time, and perhaps double their efficiency?

So, how do you perform?

One of my favorite business minds, Peter Drucker, known as the Father of Modern-Day Management, shares his insight into performance management.

He writes in the Harvard Business Review, “Amazingly few people know how they get things done. Indeed, most of us do not even know that different people work and perform differently. Too many people work in ways that are not their ways, and that almost guarantees non-performance. For knowledge workers, ‘How do I perform?’ may be an even more important question than ‘What are my strengths?’”

Solicit Feedback.

Don’t be timid about soliciting feedback from others, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be able to obtain 360-degree feedback. Knowing and understanding how others perceive you and your management style could offer insight into how best you can incorporate key change initiatives, present important topics, or influence compliance into your department and the organization as a whole. Being armed with this valuable information could also help you bridge any gaps that might exist between your perceived management style and reality.

Develop Routines.

One useful strategy in managing ourselves comes from developing routines. By doing so, we enable ourselves to reserve our “energy blocks”, or more important activities like planning, decision-making, and execution. In The Time Trap, author Alec Mackenzie notes, “We cannot manage time. We can only manage ourselves in relation to time. We cannot control how much time we have; we can only control how we use it. To make progress with time management, you have to look squarely at your own habits and be willing to do the work of changing them.” Granted, this is much more easily said than done, especially when it comes to the tough part of digging in long enough to make a scheduled task part of one’s regular routine. But after the initial set-up, the long-term benefits will greatly outweigh those temporary inconveniences and zapped energy blocks.

Let’s take exercising for example. We all know we should do it at least a few times per week, and that there are many benefits from doing so. Yet, how many of us cringe at the thought of getting up early or staying up late to hit the gym, hop on the bike, or take a run? If we make up our minds that no matter what, I’m getting up at 6 a.m. to exercise for