I am currently attending the State Bar of Texas Annual Convention. In a talk by Merrilyn Tarlton, she opened with the following quote from Bill Gates “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces people into thinking they can’t lose.” I thought about that quote in the context of two things. The first was the perfect game, pitched by Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants against the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. It was Major League Baseball’s 22nd perfect game. However, on Thursday, in a matinee performance, the Astros rebounded to win 6-3. The second was an interview with Jim Collins in the June issue of Inc. magazine, entitled “Be Great Now”.

Collins has been looking at corporations for over 25 years to “unlock the mystery of what makes a great company tick.” In the article Collins discussed twelve questions that he believes leaders must grapple with if they “truly want to excel.” I found this list to be a good summary of questions that you can and should be posing to your compliance team.