By Adam Turteltaub

Mary Shirley (LinkedIn) has had a fascinating journey as a compliance professional. Born in Hong Kong and raised in New Zealand, she has worked in Singapore, Dubai and across the US. She currently serves as Head of Compliance at Masimo, and she just authored the book Living Your Best Compliance Life: 65 Hacks & Cheat Codes to Level Up Your Ethics & Compliance Program.

In this podcast she argues for embracing professional development and owning your own advancement.

Among the hacks she recommends is creating a notebook on yourself. Record in it what you have done, the key steps along the way, and some of the larger details. That way, when annual performance time comes around, you are prepared to share what you have accomplished and won’t have to scramble to reconstruct what you did over the past year.

The same information, she points out, is very helpful when looking for your next position. It can help  you both recall what you have done and prepare to answer questions about key accomplishments and solutions you have developed.

When it comes to speaking at conferences and writing, she offers some simple advice: Just start. If you don’t you will always wonder what might have happened if you did.

From a practical perspective, she urges people to remind themselves that the first draft doesn’t have to be the last. You can turn to others for feedback who can help you revise and improve that article or speaking proposal.

To get the best advice, she recommends creating what she calls a wisdom council: a group of individuals whose advice you can trust. The council should be made up of people with diverse skills and experiences who have practical expertise and the comfort level with you to offer both encouragement and honest feedback, even if it is uncomfortable.

Listen in for more advice on how to level up your skills and how to find the courage to pursue your goals.