Compliance is a requirement, not an achievement.
Those who base the measure of their success on reporting how well they comply with the rules of the business (or the rules imposed onto the business) are the same persons who believe stopping you from moving forward is part of their responsibility. That mindset needs to change.
Is compliance important? Yes! Should your business hire people who are responsible for compliance? Of course. Should those individuals be well versed in rules? Absolutely. Should they be responsible for "keeping your business out of compliance trouble?" Yes! Yes! Yes!
While compliance may be their job, however, most compliance officers we've met misunderstand their responsibility. Their responsibility is not to disallow change outside tight boundaries, but instead to guide an institution as it moves, progresses, evolves, and pushes boundaries, all the while complying with requirements.
Compliance officers can provide the sharpest business edge by helping an institution navigate and remain within the legal and proper channels as it employs its strategy. Devoid of clear leadership direction, compliance officers are left to create a niche by their own devices, and they WILL build huge barriers that will make it impossible for staff to act.
The best thing an institution can do is to appoint a compliance officer with an indomitable entrepreneurial spirit. Help lead them into productive compliance, and all will be well. Conversely, if an institution hires "just an employee" to perform "just compliance," it will insert an agent of inaction into the structure. The result will then be a situation where everyone agrees with a project, everyone wants it to happen, but yet an invisible force keeps it from moving forward.
