About the Book
Inspiring Integrity: How to Win with Compliance and Propel Performance by L. Stephan Vincze provides an essential leadership roadmap for transforming compliance from a tedious obligation into a strategic business advantage. Vincze, a seasoned attorney, Washington political veteran, and corporate compliance professional with over twenty-five years of experience, emphasizes the importance of ethical leadership and a strong corporate culture in achieving compliance excellence. The book introduces a practical, five-step framework to create and sustain effective compliance programs, from defining success and developing a shared strategy to executing plans collaboratively and measuring results.
Through compelling real-life anecdotes and case studies, Vincze demonstrates how compliance, when done right, can propel performance and inspire a culture of integrity. For instance, he shares the inspiring story of a biotech CEO motivated by his son's illness to push the boundaries of innovation, resulting in groundbreaking treatments. He also recounts how a heartfelt plea from a mother of a sick child inspired a sales team to adhere to compliance regulations, showing the human impact of their work. Additionally, Vincze discusses the lessons learned from high-profile compliance failures, such as the Theranos scandal, underscoring the necessity of early ethical leadership and robust compliance programs.
This book is a must-read for CEOs, senior executives, compliance officers, and legal counsels, as well as law and business students, investors, and board members. With its actionable insights and practical advice, Inspiring Integrity equips readers with the leadership knowledge and tools to embed ethics and integrity into their corporate DNA and achieve sustainable business success.
"When it comes to ensuring a healthy corporate culture—one that understands and respects the business value of compliance—Steve Vincze is the 'go-to' professional. Steve and I have worked together in multiple companies to develop and instill a culture that can win with compliance at the forefront. This book is an essential read for those who want to do the right things in the right way. Winning with compliance is the only way to run your business."
— Rich Daly, President and CEO, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
"Wow. This is an important book. Inspiring Integrity is not just about compliance; it’s about how to develop a culture based on ethics and integrity, which every organization needs. Every CEO and director should read and draw inspiration from it."
— Dr. Michael Gibbs, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Table of Contents:
Introduction: At the Corner of Ethics and Integrity
Chapter 1: The Role of Leadership: To Inspire and Motivate
Chapter 2: Creating a Culture of Ethics and Integrity: Leadership in Action
Chapter 3: A Framework for Success: The Importance of Structure
Chapter 4: The Seven Elements: Defining Essential Compliance Principles
Chapter 5: Privacy: The New Compliance of Life Sciences
Chapter 6: The Importance of Active Board Oversight
Chapter 7: Applying Theory to Practice: The Five-Step Process to Creating Effective Commercial Compliance
Chapter 8: What’s Next?—Future Compliance Risks of Life Sciences
Conclusion: Find Your Inspiration to Inspire Others
About the Author
About the Author :
L. STEPHAN VINCZE is a renowned international expert in compliance and ethics with over twenty-five years of experience in the life sciences industry. A former United States Marine Corps officer, Vincze combines his military discipline with a passion for ethical leadership. A seasoned attorney and Washington political veteran, Vincze has held senior executive compliance positions at various multinational organizations, where he implemented successful compliance programs and strategies. Vincze's extensive experience includes navigating landmark settlements to create a culture of integrity and performance. He holds multiple degrees in law and business and has been a sought-after international speaker and consultant on compliance matters. Vincze's dedication to inspiring integrity and transforming compliance into a strategic business advantage is evident throughout his work.
Review :
"When it comes to ensuring a healthy corporate culture—one that understands and respects the business value of compliance—Steve Vincze is the 'go-to' professional. Steve and I have worked together in multiple companies to develop and instill a culture that can win with compliance at the forefront. This book is an essential read for those who want to do the right things in the right way. Winning with compliance is the only way to run your business."
— Rich Daly
President and CEO, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
"Steve Vincze has produced a gem of a book. Rather than looking at compliance as a burden, Steve sees it as a key to performance. Compliance officers and corporate leadership in general should read this book to understand how a compliance program can empower the entire company to do better."
— Frank Lavin
Author of Export Now; Former U.S. Ambassador
"You would expect this book to be an excellent read for compliance offers and compliance professionals coming from a former chief compliance officer and US Marine. But what was unexpected is twofold: First, it’s a tear jerker as we learn the compelling story of how leadership, honesty, and integrity were the backbone of Vincze’s upbringing and the life of his family as immigrants from Hungary to the US. Second, this is not just a book for compliance officers and compliance professionals. It’s a book for the C-suite and boards of directors that will inspire business executives to work with their compliance teams to do the right thing for their companies and for patients."
— Meenakshi Datta
Partner, Sidley; Global Co-Leader Healthcare Practice; Global Life Sciences Leadership Council Member
"I have known Steve Vincze as a passionate ethics and compliance pioneer for twenty-five years. We first met in Washington in 1999 at the very first Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Ethics & Compliance Congress, where Steve was the first speaker ever to present on international compliance, presenting his International LL.M. thesis from Georgetown Law School. Steve rose to prominence in the ethics and compliance profession in the early 2000s as a result of his leadership and cutting-edge innovations in branding, training, monitoring and measuring compliance program effectiveness while implementing what was at the time the largest corporate settlement agreement (CIA) in the history of the pharmaceutical industry at TAP Pharmaceuticals.
From Washington to Budapest to Istanbul, I have invited Steve over the years to share his uniquely creative, business-friendly, and practical compliance wisdom. An excellent and engaging presenter, you can count on Steve to weave in historical references, present engaging graphics, and keep it fun with his dry, self-deprecating wit, while at the same time reminding us how to apply tough but effective leadership standards he learned as a proud Marine Corps officer.
So it comes as no surprise that his new book, Inspiring Integrity: How to Win with Compliance and Propel Performance, does exactly the same thing—only better! What was a surprise is just how moving some portions of the book are. Packed full of colorful anecdotes, practical advice, and useful checklists, this truly is a wonderful book for both practitioners in the trenches and theorists in the classroom. It is an absolute must read for all C-Suite executives, board members, and business, legal, and compliance leaders. Always inspiring about compliance in person, Steve has re-inspired me with his book. Read Inspiring Integrity—I guarantee you will be inspired too!"
— Peter N. Grant, JD, PhD
President and CEO, Health Care Conference Administrators, LLC (dba Global Health Care, LLC); Senior Advisor and Former Chair, Health Law Section, Davis Wright Tremaine, and Chair of Health Policy Publishing, LLC; Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Policy Review; Former member, editorial board of Health Affairs
"Wow. This is an important book. Inspiring Integrity is not just about compliance; it’s about how to develop a culture based on ethics and integrity, which every organization needs. Every CEO and director should read and draw inspiration from it."
— Dr. Michael Gibbs, Ph.D.
Clinical Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
"Steve Vincze’s pathbreaking book is worth an entire degree program in corporate compliance. He writes movingly about the challenge of leading leaders to embrace and embody the virtues of inspiration, integrity, ethics, and compliance. The health care industry desperately needs to rediscover its bearings, and there’s no better place to start than this insightful volume. Beyond health care, every industry or business, large or small, will benefit from the author’s decades of experience and wisdom."
— Thomas Wm. Mayo
Professor of Law, Altshuler University; Professor (adj.), Department of Internal Medicine, UT-Southwestern Medical School; of Counsel, Haynes Boone, LLP., SMU/Dedman School of Law
"I have long observed that the most effective professionals have one foot in the library and one foot in the street. That is, they allow theory to inform practice, and practice to inform theory. Given that Steve Vincze has spent a decorated career toggling between those two venues, it comes as no surprise that Inspiring Integrity is both compelling and illuminating. The book offers a fresh perspective from which to view compliance and, as such, is required reading for both emerging and existing leaders."
— David A. Shore
Former Associate Dean and current Faculty, Harvard University; Former Distinguished Professor of Innovation and Change, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (China)
"L. Stephan Vincze’s Inspiring Integrity is an ethics and compliance toolkit and treatise as to the ‘why’ ethics and compliance are critically important in our ever-evolving world of risk and opportunity. Combining his personal and professional experiences, Mr. Vincze maps out how we can drive ethical outcomes and sustainable decisions through structures, messaging, and leadership. The book is a road map on how to create and sustain ethics and integrity in an organization, as well as how compliant practices can be an instrumental partner to commercial success. It is a book about how values don’t come to life on fancy wall posters, aspirational values, and intranet messages, but how they come to life through our decisions and decision-making. While ‘just say no’ to unethical practices might sound nice and easy, Mr. Vincze guides us as to how we can operationalize those messages so they are calibrated to the real-world risks that people, teams, and organizations face in their work and roles.
Although Mr. Vincze’s background is in life-sciences, I would recommend this book to anyone working in ethics and compliance, including those who are just starting, or considering a career in business integrity. Mr. Vincze demonstrates through his career journey how policies, rules, and procedures are not there to slow anyone down, but to help everyone appreciate that they, as an individual and a team, are the guardians and gatekeepers to corporate integrity and values.
In sum, this is an inspiring and heartfelt book on leadership, purpose, values, mission, and trust, and how they are all instrumental to a ‘best in class’ ethical and compliant organization."
— Richard Bistrong
CEO, Front-Line Anti-Bribery LLC
"Reading Inspiring Integrity: How to Win with Compliance and Propel Performance has been a transformative experience. The author eloquently argues that ethical leadership and a culture of integrity are not just regulatory necessities but pivotal drivers of organizational success and personal moral growth. Through compelling narratives and stripped of pedantic education, this book addresses ethics and compliance, illustrating their importance in motivating leaders to redefine the role of compliance in business, demonstrating how adherence to core values and human dignity can drive innovation and performance. The book enthralls you through a genuine narrative, enriched by the author's personal experience, emphasizing the importance of human dignity, ethical leadership, and the emotional connection needed to inspire integrity and actions for long-term success and (personal) human flourishing."
— Ruggero Gramatica, PhD
CEO, Macrocosm Group; Honorary Research Associate, The Oxford University Institute for New Economic Thinking Investment Advisory
"Inspiring Integrity, by Steve Vincze, is a revelation for CEOs and board members who are responsible for the success of any kind of organization. The author makes a compelling case that as leaders pursue their business objectives, it should be done with ethics and compliance as core values. Many CEOs and board members think compliance is just a legal checklist of policies and procedures to avoid regulatory problems. The book explains that it is better to inspire all people in the enterprise to want to comply not for compliance’s sake but in pursuit of a greater good. Mr. Vincze explains it is vitally important to integrate your company values and principles to form a culture of compliance.
This is valuable learning for C-suite executives, board members, and shareholders alike."
— Rick LeBlanc, B.A.Sc (EE), MBA
Operating Partner, Huron Capital Partners
"Pharmaceuticals is one the most sophisticated industries. As such, pharmaceutical development comes with complexity, norms, standards, facts, and data. When a product is approved and commercial activities start, similar rigor must be applied forward. In other words, integrity and compliance with codes of conduct throughout activities must prevail.
Could strong values and ethics enable business innovation, growth, and sustainability? Absolutely! Why? Because integrity is about respect for all of our stakeholders: payors, health care professional, patients, and shareholders. Lack of integrity could lead to serious reputational damage and broader harm. Consequences as severe as deaths can be at the end of the line.
In the pharmaceutical industry, we all carry the same mission: to improve the lives of patients. We create expectations and hope, and as such our principles all the way through research, development, and commercialization activities cannot be compromised.
Make this a personal commitment throughout your entire career and you’ll be proud the day you look back.
Anyone working in the pharmaceutical industry, directly or indirectly, would benefit from reading Inspiring Integrity by Steve Vincze for insights on the role integrity plays both at a high level but also in the day-to-day activities."
— Paul Levesque
President & CEO, Theratechnologies
"Inspiring Integrity is special because Stephan Vincze is special. The 'how to do compliance right' content is full of practical tips and important insights. These come to life through Steve’s eyes as he weaves stories from his professional and personal life into a compelling, and often moving, reflection on what it takes to sustain a winning performance."
— Steve Priest
President, Integrity Insight International
"Steve Vincze is the best at what he does! For nearly thirty years, Steve has inspired greatness by making compliance a force multiplier for the life sciences industry. He does this by "living and breathing" the value that integrity brings to each and every organization from the CEO to those in the trenches interacting with patients on a daily basis. Steve has undoubtedly written the playbook for success!"
— Kathleen Coffey
Experienced CEO and Board Member
"Inspired by amazing chapters of his own life journey and shaped by his life sciences background, L. Stephan Vincze is offering astonishing compliance principles for modern progressive companies and their leadership. Essential takeaways are driven by his deep competence and experience in the compliance field, including highest ethics and integrity standards. An absolute must-read guide for leadership suite, management, and entrepreneurs."
— Dr. Volker E. Kuebler, MBA
Experienced CEO and Senior Business Executive
"Inspiring Integrity is about more than compliance; it’s about doing things right, leadership, and improving performance for successful organizations.
I learned about the significance of compliance as a young executive. We were a fast-growing, publicly traded healthcare company, and one of my first meetings as a recently promoted VP was about compliance. Our CEO, noticing my lack of interest in the topic, took me aside and said that great companies do all things great, and that it starts with compliance. From that day, with companies I have led, and public and private company boards that I have been on, I support a disciplined, thorough compliance program. If you’re going to do something, do it right. As Steve points out, at its foundation, that’s compliance.
I also enjoyed this book because I learned even more about Steve. His younger years, through his education, to his time in the Corps, and his successful corporate and family life. Steve’s a driven, smart, passionate, and hugely proud American.
Show me a company with a strong compliance program and I’ll show you a company that most likely does everything right. That’s the company you want to be part of, that’s the company you want to lead, that’s the company you want to invest in. Read the book."
— James T. Barry
CEO, Celerity05
"I have been working with Steve Vincze and TRESTLE Compliance for over two years in connection with the commercialization of our products in the United States. Steve and TRESTLE have played an important role in shaping our compliance department, providing sound and practical advice whenever they were asked to. Their professionalism is outstanding and we are glad to have partnered with Steve and TRESTLE for our compliance needs.
Inspiring Integrity is a book that should be read by every leader who has ethics and integrity at heart and who are in a position to make a change in cultural behavior within their organization."
— Jocelyn Lafond, LL.B., LL.M.
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Theratechnologies
"Who better to take lessons from in compliance than Steve Vincze? Steve has built a career and business on the cornerstones of ethics and integrity. Steve was an early adopter of compliance and its key components early in his personal and professional lives. Let Steve’s story and lessons be motivating factors behind your personal, professional, and industrial compliance efforts. In Inspiring Integrity: How to Win With Compliance and Propel Performance readers will undoubtedly find motivation in Steve’s compliance anecdotes, lessons, and examples."
— Tyler Wiseman
Chief Legal Officer, Elevar Therapeutics
"Inspiring Integrity: How to Win with Compliance and Propel Performance may as well be called the eighth element of an effective ethics and compliance program. It is an essential read for ethics and compliance professionals and senior executives, generally. It is a manual for compelling ethical conduct delivered within an engaging story born of Steve’s upbringing and diverse career achievements. Those of us responsible for conceiving organizational strategy and implementing that strategy from all seniority will identify with and benefit from Steve’s leadership philosophy and tactical recommendations. Reading about Steve’s experiences in government service and as a pioneer in the ethics and compliance profession will orient you to the history that shaped current public policy, empower you to hold the line against well-known forms of misconduct, and adapt to the emerging ethical challenges and regulatory expectations facing all industries. I have been fortunate to witness Steve apply these principles directly as a colleague and subsequently as a client. I highly recommend this book to those looking to make a values-driven impact on their own organization or broader community."
— Gerard Leeman
Senior Director, Compliance ONO PARMA USA, Inc.
"I have known Steve for almost forty years, and he has been a paragon of character and competence in every position he has held. This book stresses the fact that compliance, trust, and integrity must be present within any organization if success is to be achieved. Truth both inside the organization among employees and leadership and outside the organization with clients and customers is cemented by a well-crafted compliance program. Execution of the compliance program must be driven by a corporate leadership culture of trust and integrity. Steve's book provides a vital roadmap to ensuring compliance is a way of life and an uncompromising standard, instead of an afterthough viewed as an inconvenience."
— John F. Sattler
Lt. General, USMC (Ret.); former Director of Strategic Plans and Policy, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; former United States; representative to the Military Staff Committee of the United Nations; former Distinguished Chair of Leadership at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership, United States Naval Academy
