What I gained from being a Chief Compliance Officer!

Most of my clients come to me because they are unsure of how to figure out what they would like to do next in their career - whether it be on their current path or something completely different. This post is about how I reflected on my own career path and determined what strengths and skills were working for me, which led me to identify my new path as a Career Transition & Leadership Coach.

As you have read previously in other posts, my career included over 20 years in healthcare compliance, regulatory, and quality improvement in primary hospitals and healthcare systems. As I think about how I transitioned into my next path of coaching, I wanted to share a few thoughts about what I have learned and how I applied those learnings to find my next steps. 

Reflection is such an important part of our story. When we think about what jobs or opportunities we have had, it is helpful to think about:  

• What were the strengths I utilized and want to continue engaging going forward?
• What activities did I do in my career that felt “forced” or that I really didn’t enjoy?
• What aspects of my role were things that aligned with my values and who I want to be?
• Was I working in an organization that supported me and aligned with my values?
• Could I be my authentic self and have my voice heard in a way that was empowering and helped me grow?

When I reflect on my tenure as a CCO in many different organizations and roles, I landed on two critical aspects that I valued the most.  1) Collaboration vs. competition, and 2) nurturing my network and building relationships. 

1. Collaboration vs. competition. As a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), the challenges and issues that we dealt with were the same/similar to other hospitals and health systems. I learned early on that collaborating with other CCO’s and compliance professionals would bring value to my role and my own knowledge - because we were able to share common stories, and resources, and mentor and guide each other.  Working together was a strategy that worked for all of us. I loved this about my role - being collaborative vs. competitive.
   
   
   _{Two of my favorite Compliance Colleagues, Terrie Estes and Donna Schneider, who helped me get where I am.}
   
   
2. Nurturing relationships. As a CCO, it was critically important for me to build and nurture relationships with leaders and other people within my organization, as well as externally. Success as a CCO came from doing the research, helping leadership understand their risks, working together to identify ways to enhance their processes that mitigate risks and exposure, as well as improving the patient care experience and revenue (achieving the mission).  As a leader, I felt very strongly that I was not interested in micro-managing my team but that I would lean into trust and collaboration with them. I wanted to empower them to have their own voice, to educate me, and to elevate our program to the best we could be - together.
   
   

I also had the opportunity to participate in several compliance officer forums—Puget Sound, Northeast, and Academic Medical Centers. Those groups were enormously helpful in ensuring that I had the right connections and information to do my job and helping me feel like I’m not alone and have resources and support at my fingertips. I value the relationships with the other CCOs in these groups that made my job easier and more enjoyable thanks to their support.

Upon reflection, I feel that both of these takeaways of what I gained from being a CCO led me to the path I’m currently on as an executive and career transition coach. I feel that coaching is all about collaboration with another person to help them get where they want to go, as well as nurturing a relationship of trust, confidence, and honesty. When both of these are in place, a beautiful coaching relationship blossoms!