Last Friday, May 4 was Star Wars Day. According to Wikipedia, “May 4 is called Star Wars Day because of the popularity of a common pun spoken on this day. Since the phrase “May the Force be with you” is a famous quote often spoken in the Star Wars films, fans commonly say “May the fourth be with you” on this day.” So if you are like me and still consider “Star Wars IV-A New Hope” to be the first Star Wars movie or if you are of a different age as is my 15 year old daughter who says that the first Star Wars movie was “Star Wars I-The Phantom Menace”, I hope the force was with you last Friday.

I thought about this generational dispute in the context of leadership when I read an article in the Corner Office Section of the Sunday New York Times (NYT), entitled “How to Adopt Mentors Without Really Asking”. In the article reporter Adam Bryant interviewed Shellye Archambeau, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MetricStream, which presented some of the leadership lessons that Archambeau has learned in her business career. I found that some of her points could be used by a compliance professional not only for his or her career but to further the goal of compliance leadership in your company.