“Compliance Officer Day” (Sept. 26) was created as a tip of the cap to those who keep the corporate community in line and, in the words of the holiday’s creator (SAI Global), to “shine a spotlight on the professionals who have dedicated their careers to … helping people do the right thing.”

We at Compliance Week intensified that spotlight with our first annual “Inside the Mind of the CCO” special report, which is aimed at, among other things, figuring out what motivates and challenges today’s chief compliance officers, how they adapt to an ever-changing business landscape, and how they weigh decisions in an ethical climate awash in gray areas—and very little black and white.

Our report is anchored by analysis of the results of a 25-question survey built to get at the answers to these questions—plus more taboo curiosities like how much money they make.

And they do make a good living, no doubt, but for good reason: Their realm of responsibility is wider than ever. They’re not just tasked with implementing rules and regulations anymore. In today’s complex world, they need to deal with growing cyber-threats, storing and using data in safe and ethical ways, monitoring third parties, implementing new technologies, keeping tabs on an ever-changing regulatory and sanctions landscape, making sure employees are trained on policies and codes of conduct, and so much more.

They need to be empathetic listeners, strong leaders, future-focused technologists, developers of talent, curators of culture, and they need to prove to their bosses and their boards that they and their departments are worth every cent because if it weren’t for them, the company would be much more likely to find itself in hot water.

In addition to the survey, this special report includes in-depth interviews with eight high-profile CCOs with a combined 133 years of compliance experience, hiring advice from a compliance headhunter, a skills refresher from a career coach, a first-person account of how one traditionally trained practitioner pivoted to the growing field of compliance analytics, and a fun personality profiling tool that can help inform your perspective on how you interact with others.

We’ve filled this report with more graphics and fun visuals than you’ve ever seen before in Compliance Week, the start of a trend as we test new and interesting ways to tell compelling stories and deliver you the information and benchmarking tools you look for to help do your jobs better.

We hope you take the time to fully explore our findings, interviews, and visuals … but not too much time—you’ve got important jobs to do!

Dave Lefort is Publisher and Editor in Chief of Compliance Week. Before joining CW, he spent nearly two decades in digital leadership roles with ESPN and The Boston Globe.

Topics

Special report: Inside the Mind of the CCO