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Executive Director Kevin Robinson CIA, CFE, CCEP

Monthly Newsletter Case In Point: Lessons for the pro-active manager Vol. 5 No. 4

I recently heard a speaker from an organization that is routinely listed as one of the country's best places to work talk about their company's culture and history. During her speech, the speaker (a vice president in the company) mentioned that the founder of the company frequently told employees, ''This organization will be a little better place to work, or not quite as good, because of you.'' This statement was very simple yet in many ways quite profound. This message of personal responsibility for the success of the organization has been built into their culture and has made a significant impact on their success and reputation of strong customer service.

As I thought about the statement I realized it is also true for us in the educational environment. I believe it is particularly true in how our institution manages the numerous risks we face. Ultimately, our university will be a little better at managing risks, or not quite as good, because of you.

Developing a proactive culture where, when someone sees a problem they either raise the issue to those who can influence needed action or take action themselves to reduce risks or solve the problem, is more important than ever due to highly publicized events within our industry where actions were not taken and crisis ensued. Ultimately, whether we are considering compliance issues, data protection, safety of students, or any other risk we face, it comes down to each employee taking responsibility and acting proactively for the institution to succeed.

As you review the events across higher education this month, we encourage you to think about the risks you face and where you might need to take proactive action. Ultimately, developing a proactive culture is probably more important than any program we could develop for managing risk.

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