There is a lot more to ballroom dancing than floating across a floor. Partner dancing demands a high level of mental energy. For the “leader,” it means keeping time, planning the pattern of steps, and guiding his/her partner. For the “follower,” it means reading the leader’s signals and placing full trust in their guidance.
Leading and following in ballroom dance are not far off from the dynamic at play in compliance. Just ask Joe Murphy, senior adviser of compliance strategists and officer cha cha of Dance Haddonfield, a ballroom dancing organization he founded in his New Jersey hometown. As a 40-year champion of ethics and compliance and a 20-year ballroom dancer, Murphy has done the legwork—literally—on the parallels.
