The Rise of Just in Time Compliance: Stop Being Taken For Granted

Why is it that the majority of people working in FinTech, regardless of whether they are employees, consultants, or founders, are not personally wealthy and often struggle with money while very few are able to be truly successful and financially secure?

They all face similar regulatory challenges, have access to similar technologies, are audited by the same auditors, so what is it that separates those successful few from the struggling majority who often find themselves overworked, underpaid, and compelled to change jobs and companies every couple of years?

For example, the compliance profession attracted a lot of experts from sales and finance, and audit, they all thought compliance would be a safe and respected job. But what many recent newcomers into FinTech compliance discovered is they are not paid that well, they work long hours, they see little or no appreciation, they deal with a lot of uncertainties, and almost everyone hates them and blames them for not having all the answers.

I wanted to start this conversation by pointing out mistakes I see and then sharing my observations about successful examples. Let's start with the mistakes, namely, doing things for free and offering favors.

Here is a list of activities, favors, and other initiatives that I would not recommend doing free of charge.

• Maybe you volunteered for a new project and you regret this decision because nobody seems to listen to your recommendations or takes your opinion seriously? I personally came to realize that people who seriously want your service or help and value it will ALWAYS offer something in return right away - maybe equity in their company or paying you later by means of a profit-sharing agreement.
• Have you completed a few professional certifications or Oxford/Harvard/Warton FinTech courses (and your company did not agree to pay for this) hoping that it would help you become more strategic, add credibility to your voice and take your professional reputation to the next level... only to find out that you still depend on the old hierarchy, and all important decisions are still made by people who know much less than you and generally could not care less about the outcome?
• Have you tried diversifying your income streams by becoming a startup mentor, free advisor, or unpaid speaker only to find yourself busier, more annoyed, and generally taken for granted? You might be telling yourself that you were meeting new people and getting exposure, but let's be honest, without being able to clearly tell from the stage or in a business meeting what is it that you want to sell or offer and without a clear strategy around how to monetize these unpaid gigs and make them benefit you financially, this is just a glorified hobby. If you are happy to keep it as a hobby, it's great, but then don't pretend that you will ever make money with it.
• Are you maybe just working long hours with very little help and almost no appreciation for what you do, because you feel that you are too new (too young, too old, too foreign, or not visible enough at your company) producing results and solving problems, but those results and solutions benefit others and not you?

If that sounds familiar, you are about to discover why things might be slow and what could you do instead. The good news is that solid reputation, rewards, and success in FinTech compliance do not require you to work longer or study more regulations. In any field, successful professionals who get results and reap impressive financial benefits all follow very similar foundational principles - they prioritize important goals and refuse to be taken for granted.

The bad news is that most people don’t know or don’t apply this simple framework and as a result keep struggling and changing jobs (or chasing clients and projects).

I've been recently inspired to create a series of articles and audio clips on the topic of how old-fashioned hard work and perfectionism and having just one source of income doesn't work anymore, especially not in FinTech where things and priorities change fast. 

I would like to encourage you to follow this series, which is published on this page, and will be continuously updated with new content over time, and by the time you will finish it, you will have a complete blueprint of all key success factors you need. If you desire to become a true industry leader, well recognized professional, respected, and trusted, with multiple income streams appropriately compensating you for the value you add to businesses. It's not just my experience, but rather you could learn from successful experiences, examples, and case studies of a few other experts who are well rewarded by their companies or clients, respected and constantly referred to new projects, or invited to join boards of directors, who find time and energy to write and publish books, who own small but valuable stakes in up-and-coming FinTech startups, all of that without sacrificing health, sanity or personal time and without being pushy, aggressive or having massive networks.

Despite how much content and free advice and opinion pieces and seminars exist on every single compliance topic imaginable, why is it that so many smart and hard-working compliance professionals continue to struggle with their income plateaued and their talents un-used, volunteering, speaking, and mentoring free of charge at all the wrong places, and don’t know what to do?

In my years of working in FinTech compliance, I came to believe that the majority of people don’t realize that the “just in time” (and not “just in case”) approach is the new and most efficient way to get things done, create a professional track record and being paid well in FinTech.

Think about it… If you work hard in FinTech compliance, you have probably failed multiple times already at the “just in case” approach, where you prepare for all possible risks and document all possible gaps, and assess multiple adverse consequences and nobody ever promotes or grants you a salary increase you for doing this. 

Quite the opposite, since this is your only income, you may find yourself working longer and longer hours, while your management is never satisfied and blames compliance for being too slow and inefficient no matter what you do. You’d love to diversify your income, become a board member, learn something new, explore how to become a speaker or teacher, but you keep putting this off until you have more time and energy. 

Every expert and successful professional will tell you that to get paid well for your know-how and have options to choose from, you need a track record of proven results created by you in your field. This recognizable name and reputation in the industry that’s trusted and verifiable will convey legitimacy, professionalism, and authority. It will allow you to stand out in the noisy space amongst the sea of amateurs. Being able to consistently get things done and deliver results is what forms the core of your reputation, and this professional identity is the one thing that catapults experts to the new levels of success.

It allows you to choose projects you love, it gives you the confidence to ask for resources you need, and it also allows you to diversify your income and explore other opportunities because you no longer need to justify your value.

A lot of compliance people who are new in their roles or otherwise insecure about their positions, hesitate to act because they are afraid to make a mistake and lose their credibility.

They have this crazy idea that it's better not to make progress and delay the decision rather than make a mistake. However, if you want to build your professional reputation and create better opportunities for yourself, you need to learn how to get things done even with incomplete information and limited resources, you must act with the imperfect information you have. There is no way of getting things done without action and the best news of all is that when you apply the "just in time" compliance principles, you will see that action will create clarity.

Just show me one successful professional who was given all the answers and solutions in advance, who always worked with perfect teams, never faced any uncertainties and waited for the perfect timing, and had perfect clarity before they acted. You probably can’t.