Welcome. Here we go again in 2019. Looks like this year will be even harder than 2018 which was in many respects a terrible year. Normally this is the time of the year when we’re celebrating the outstanding individuals in organizations of the past year. But clearly there is great difficulty in identifying people and organizations to honor. As a result I’m introducing a new feature this month, “America’s MVP: America’s Most Vile Person.” If we can’t name the good ones, let’s name some bad ones. The rules are pretty simple, you’ll see them later on in the newsletter. I hope you’ll participate.

For 2019 I’m going to be focusing on civility, decency and integrity. Thought you’d like Roy Snell’s take. He is the retiring founder of SCCE, the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, a major force in the compliance field globally and certifies individuals to be professionally recognized compliance experts.

My description of our current times goes like this:

Read on. As always I’d appreciate your comments and observations.

Honesty-Humility-Confidence: Everyday Honesty

By Roy Snell
roy.snell@corporatecompliance.org

I love "everyday honesty." What I am talking about are people who tell you, respectfully and civilly, what they really think about everyday, run­ of-the-mill issues. I love to listen to them. I am not talking about people who lie through their teeth every day or major dishonesty. I am talking
about people who take it a step further. The current cultural shift that has put so many things off limits to talk about has caused some people to just stop sharing their opinions. The baby has been thrown out with the bath water. It kind of comes off as dishonest to me. Some people have taken the perfectly acceptable effort from our society to become more politically correct and taken it very close to the edge of suppression of thought. When I see people who are returning to the concept of open discussion, it comes off as honesty to me. I missed everyday honesty. I think a lot of people miss it, and they like it more now than they ever have, because it was slipping away from us.

I kind of like civil, everyday honesty rebels. I am not talking about the screaming, hating, finger­ pointing, offending types. I am talking about the calm, thoughtful, civil, honest types. They impress me. They say what they think. They talk about the elephant in the room. They address issues that should be addressed. They are civil about it. They do not care if it affects their income or popularity.

They don't mind having someone tell them they are wrong. They listen to alternative views. They find out when they are wrong because they say what they think. They change their mind when they hear a better idea. They think it's OK to risk being wrong. It's an important part of what I would consider the attribute of everyday honesty.

The idea for this post came to me from a couple of people I talk to on a regular basis who I think have this ability. One of them is our incoming CEO, Gerry Zack. When he interviewed for the incoming SCCE/HCCA CEO job, those who talked to him on the phone, and later in person, came out of the room very impressed. For some, it was close to a "coming-out-of-their -shoes impressed." His resume was great, but this was a reaction to a discussion or a person. What I came up with was that he is honest, humble, and confident. Since then, I can't get this out of my head. Our culture is currently coming off a period of possible overreach on "what is OK to talk about." It makes us treasure people like Gerry. People miss honest and civil discourse on everyday issues.

Roy Snell is the retiring founder of SCCE/HCCA

Please Note: Candidate Names, categories, examples will be aggregated. Unless you specifically want to be named as a nominator, we will use the New York Times standard and consider every submission as being from an anonymous source. All nominations are due in to jel@e911.com, subject line 2018MVP, by close of business Friday, February 15, 2019.